Episode 1-b. The One Who Follows the Journey.
A trace.
It leaves a mark as great and deep as the size of the heart.
It is etched as deeply and sharply as the depth of emotion.
For someone, it might be a faint thing that cannot even be seen with the eyes, but for a certain woman, it is clear and vivid.
For someone, it might be a trivial matter that doesn’t even attract interest, but for a certain woman, it is poignant and nostalgic.
At that moment, the woman inevitably follows the trace left by her beloved, retracing the path of the past that has passed.
That small trace, which was merely that, will be gradually covered by the next trace she leaves, growing larger and larger.
With emotions that have become certain, she will pick up her brush and paint over the vague mark.
She contains love, and affection.
She holds memories, and bitterness.
In the meantime, she solidifies her own heart and inevitably yearns for one person.
Emotion.
It is a pure, gray love.
Thus, there is a woman who moves forward.
A woman who, though awkward and lacking, takes steps following the remaining traces.
She carries the heart of a woman that will undoubtedly connect the past, present, and future.
The love and affection, memories and bitterness that have already been spoken.
Now solidified into the one feeling of longing, and therefore, many stories she wants to share.
A clear pure love.
It is surely possible because she receives love that is without a price.
So.
Good luck.
May your heart reach that man.
May the pure feelings you send resonate in his heart.
The carriage rattles.
Even though we have long left the Empire, the bumpy road and the harmony of the carriage wheels still resonate.
Every time the carriage hits a stone, it creaks uneasily.
“Ugh….”
I am not yet accustomed to this, and every time my rear bounces on the driver’s seat, my back throbs.
To be honest.
While I may have certainly trained and trained in magic, I often ran away from exercise due to its difficulty.
When I did not show up, Master Rini would come looking for me at the grocery store and drag me to the training ground.
But later on, I got so familiar with the sound of her footsteps that I learned to sneak away through the back door whenever I heard them coming from afar.
Clatter—
“Ugh….”
Eventually, while driving the carriage, I witnessed the consequences of my lack of exercise.
I think I am beginning to understand Master Rini’s words about exercising regularly for any reason.
I had thought of selling the ten boxes of protein supplements and various exercise equipment in another city, but now I hesitate a bit.
However.
Honestly, I did not want to exercise even while enduring all this hardship.
Clatter—
“Ugh….”
I thought it would be better to stop the carriage for a moment, rest, and then continue.
After all, I was warned not to heal the pain caused by exercise with magic.
The sight of her glaring while saying that the process of muscles tearing and healing is important comes to mind.
I decided to give up on exercising instead.
Yes.
It was a desire not to carry the pain of exercising along with the already difficult journey.
Exercise is unpleasant.
It was partly because the flesh hanging on my chest was heavy, and the flesh on my rear was heavy as well.
Rain is falling heavily.
The road where the carriage and I are traveling is made of dirt, so as the rainwater patters down, it soon creates a sticky muddy ground.
It was a sight I hadn’t seen in the capital of the Empire, so it was somewhat fascinating, but it disrupted my plan to take a short break before driving the carriage again.
So, setting aside the thought of stopping the carriage by the roadside for a rest, I slowly drove the carriage into the woods.
When it rains, even a campfire cannot be lit, so I parked the carriage in a suitable place and looked around.
There are no people.
There was never likely to be anyone on such a mountain road.
So I quietly murmured a spell.
“Green sprout.”
“Soft leaves, spreading vines.”
“Bloom.”
In an instant, the mana that burst forth swayed in the forest, slowly transforming the surrounding scenery.
However, no ash dust winds about anymore.
This is, so to speak, the result of my efforts over the past three years.
At least when I use small and simple magic, I’ve finally started to see results from my determination not to let ash dust scatter.
Thus.
The various plants that were quietly covering the ground gradually grow larger and intertwine, creating a roof that could even cover the carriage.
They rise slightly off the damp ground to avoid getting my clothes wet, covering themselves with dry grass and branches.
Then, I sat down on the soft place and mumbled quietly.
“…, Thank you.”
It actually means little, but it is something I say when the scenery changes due to magic.
It’s just a habit I acquired from trying various methods with Ildrin.
So.
I made a campfire, took out a pot and various ingredients from the carriage’s cargo, and started cooking.
Crackle, crackle—
The sound of the crackling fire is quite calm.
To put it simply, just by watching it, I find myself getting lost in thought, recalling past memories as always.
On a rainy day like today, I remember the scenery of walking under a single umbrella while brushing against him.
My shoes began to get damp, and I certainly hated that stuffy feeling, but I recall the scenery of having to smile widely despite it.
There was warmth.
His intense warmth that made my body heat up was even hotter than the blazing flames of the campfire.
It makes my face red even now.
Ever since coming to fully realize my feelings, I have been unable to control my racing heart whenever I think of him.
I like you.
I love you.
Ain, I long for you.
As I keep reciting those words in my mind, I find myself searching for other sweet words.
All the emotions that had stirred within me have been compressed into the single emotion of love, yet that feeling swells too greatly, dividing once again into many emotions.
The previously held feelings gain flesh.
It was longing, and surely yearning.
It was simple affection, as well as intense passion.
Adoring and longing, I feel endlessly that one word, love, is insufficient to define my emotions.
“…, Ain.”
So as I linger on thoughts of him for a long time, my mind becomes hazy and my breath quickens, so I end up smiling in a silly way.
I keep feeling fidgety.
The heart that was only pounding begins to tingle and the body that was flinching keeps twisting.
“Hmm…”
A slightly sticky breath flows out from my mouth, crackling as it burns into the campfire.
And.
“Over there…”
“Ah.”
At the voice coming from behind, I quickly turned my hand toward the direction of the sound and summoned my mana.
Although no ash dust emerged, intimidating remnants of mana rose from my hand.
“Eek! N-no, I surrender…! I-I was just going to say that the pot is burning…!”
“….”
The shabby-looking woman who approached me to speak was startled by this and stumbled into a puddle of rainwater.
“Eek! I-I saw smoke rising from afar… I was so hungry…”
“….”
Seeing her instantly turn to a sobbing face, I waved my hand to disperse the rising mana.
“I have no spare clothes… Ugh, I’m sorry…”
“….”
Her words left an unpleasant smell in the air.
Though my clothes didn’t turn completely yellow from the rain, an unpleasant odor mixed in with the stronger scent of grass enhanced by the rain.
But.
“Uh, if you have any spare clothes, could I possibly borrow some…?”
“…, Come in. I’ll give you some clothes and food.”
“Wow…, thank you…. If you give me the clothes first… If I go up like this… then, yes…”
Her appearance was a bit, actually quite pitiful, so I inadvertently offered her a place.
Thus, the campfire roared even stronger.
The pot began to bubble with stew, and the wet clothes surrounded the campfire, hanging on branches.
“Wow…, it’s been so long since I had stew… I hate jerky…”
“….”
“Thank you so much…, thank you…”
To put it simply.
She was the first person I met during my journey.
A feeble and insignificant person, a pitiful adventurer who couldn’t even recognize my identity.
