Chapter 816: Footsteps of Autumn 3
Princess Ran finished her barrage of questions for Irina and the others, then apparently retreated to her room to write them down. Though calling it her room is a stretch—it’s just a guest room assigned to her in the Baron’s mansion.
“Well, it’s fine if she wants to shut herself away to work, isn’t it?”
“It would be fine if that were all……Maia!”
A troubled-looking Irina called out, and unusually, Maia appeared normally at the door.
“Explain it”
“……Last time, she worked continuously for about a day and a half and suddenly collapsed, which was a shock. We carried her to the Spirit Spring and she revived, but now she’s been scribbling away for nearly another full day”
“A full day……emm”
“About 22 hours”
“……S, Such incredible concentration?”
Well……I do lose track of time sometimes too, but I’ve never calmly gone over 20 hours……I don’t think. My stamina wouldn’t hold out that long. ……No, Princess Ran should have far less stamina than me, since she’s actually using her body as a soldier.
“Before she got healthy, that weak knight said she’d get asthma and collapse if she pushed herself too hard. ……Now that she’s healthy, it seems like she’s actually lost track of her own limits. Honestly, last time, I genuinely thought she was dead”
“Seriously……?”
Maia is a dragon, of course, so beyond just appearance, she has plenty of ways to gauge someone’s condition—heartbeat, body temperature, and so on. For Maia to say with a straight face that she might have actually died……yeah. She’s not the type to crack jokes like that, so she must be serious. Come to think of it, back when I was training in the capital, I remember a senior craftsman……well, not exactly from the same school, but a craftsman working independently near the Sleedo Workshop suddenly dropping dead. He didn’t seem to have any particular illness, but he often pulled all-nighters. Apparently, he was the kind of craftsman who valued his own inspiration, a real feel-first type. The craftsman world doesn’t really mix much with outsiders, and as an apprentice, I certainly wasn’t close to him, so this is secondhand info. But I heard that one morning, his wife found him cold, clutching his final sword.
『Craftsmen who die young are useless. After all, if you’re dead, you can’t deliver to the customer or make the next piece. You make goods that satisfy the customer’s order, earn their trust, and use that to secure the next job. That’s the craftsman’s true calling. It’s all about keeping the cycle going. Sure, you might become a legend if you die, but that’s just drawing unwanted attention. It’s a lack of honor』
Master Sreedo would preach to us apprentices like this, his face flushed red from sake as usual. ……I heard later he was the son-in-law of the master’s younger brother, though from a different school.
“I plan to take her to the Spirit Spring as soon as things settle down……but I’m not sure where to draw the line”
“……What does Fiona say?”
“Right now, she’s getting beaten to a pulp by Anzeros”
“…………”
I thought, Anzeros, you should stop this, but training Fiona is important in its own way, so I couldn’t complain.
“Irina, you need to be firmer. We can’t afford her dying”
“……If that princess herself says she’s fine, I cannot say more. She’s quite stubborn, you know”
I’m not in a position to order her around, nor can I strongly dissuade her. But, umm. ……Maybe I should speak to her directly. Can’t be helped.
Visiting Princess Ran’s room, I found an astonishing number of papers drying. Documents like these must be hung out to dry after writing, or they’ll smudge or bleed through if rolled or stacked immediately. Seeing the floor completely covered in papers densely covered in Southern dialect was quite a sight. To think a single girl wrote all this in such a short time……it felt like quite an achievement in itself. Even if I can’t read it.
“Princess?”
I called out, but Princess Ran, facing her desk, seemed completely oblivious. I tried approaching from behind. Her hand was moving, so she wasn’t unconscious. Maybe I could startle her from behind? Breathe near her ear……wait, very dangerous. What am I thinking? She’s not some female slave. Having too many girls who tolerate everything messes up my thinking. I need to reflect on that. Regaining my composure, I tried again from behind.
“Princess, are you awake?”
“…………”
I deliberately phrased it as if suspecting she was dozing off, but Princess Ran showed no reaction. She just kept scribbling away with her quill. Empty inkwells, presumably used up, were piled up in the corner of the desk, telling the tale of her intense concentration. You wouldn’t normally use up this much at once, unless it was paint. ……Just calling out normally won’t work. Being too familiar would be disrespectful for a commoner like me, and I don’t intend to get close to her as a Dragon Rider either. I decide to tap her shoulder.
“Your Highness”
“……Huh!? Eh, ah, yes!?”
She finally noticed. She glanced over with a slightly annoyed look, then returned her gaze to the paper. She looked back at me with a startled expression and dropped her pen.
“S, Sorry! I……I thought you were Fiona!”
“……I don’t think my voice is that high-pitched”
“I was so focused I didn’t register anything but the fact I was being called……!”
The voice difference aside, mistaking me for Fiona when I was called in Northwestian? Seriously? Is that even possible? ……Well, if she says so, I guess it is.
“Your attention’s slipping, isn’t it? I don’t know what you’re writing, but you’re bound to make more mistakes like this”
“N, No, actually, I’m in a state where I could write endlessly……so”
“That’s probably an illusion”
22 hours. Never mind not sleeping, going that long without eating at all will make your brain shut down. It’s less about heightened concentration and more about your brain not functioning well enough to make anything seem like it’s going well. ……Come to think of it, I get high on work myself sometimes, so I need to be careful. I shouldn’t be coolly critiquing stuff when I can’t even read it properly.
“Put down your pen for today. Go eat and soak in the hot springs. You almost died, didn’t you?”
“D, Die? Not at all. I just pushed myself too hard and got anemic”
“Maia said she thought you were dead”
“That’s an exaggeration……”
This is hopeless. She doesn’t understand the recklessness of her actions. I briefly wondered if she was just putting on a brave face, but there’s absolutely no point in testing the limits of death in such a bizarre way when treatment is readily available. ……Come to think of it, when I was around her age, I had this strange trust in my own body too. Like, as long as I had enough grit and determination, I could pull through any number of all-nighters and fake it somehow. Now that the title of middle age is approaching, I understand that pushing yourself comes with its own backlash. But Princess Ran, who suddenly overcame her asthma handicap, is just like me back then……no, even worse. She’s lost all sense of her own limits.
“If you were killed by a dragon, fine. But dying from writing too much in your room? Even Fiona wouldn’t be able to bring back a myth that pathetic. You have to take care of your body, or all that healing was for nothing”
“……It’s not a diary though……ugh”
Pretending not to hear, I helped the princess stand. After writing all day, her legs were predictably wobbly, making her look like she’d reverted to being the frail princess. Supporting her shoulder, I suddenly thought: Princess Reina of Trot……or rather, Queen Reina, or Queen Flare of Renfangas, could never do something like this. Even though she’s from a foreign country with no ties to us, it’s not right to treat Her Highness too casually or arrogantly. But since I’m the only one who can rein her in right now, I guess it can’t be helped, I tell myself, justifying it, and deliberately step in as her elder to try and stop her from doing something reckless. As we step out of the room, Fennel is smiling.
“Dinner will be ready shortly. Please drink this sacred spring water and wait a little while”
Behind her, I saw a maid from the cherry blossom clan scurry toward the kitchen. Those sharp-eared girls must have overheard our conversation. The princess took the ceramic cup handed to her, gulped it down with a slightly unladylike gulp, then swayed a bit before looking wide awake.
“Oh, delicious……”
“You hadn’t even drunk water while holed up, so your body must have craved it”
……I’d overlooked it because Fiona is such a peculiar child, but Princess Ran is also quite fragile, I realized. So much so that even someone like Fiona needs to be by her side. She lacks common sense and awareness of danger in a different way than Fiona. Saving her……is it really enough to just send her back like this? I found myself thinking unnecessary thoughts. I know I shouldn’t get too involved.
————- ———
Night. After feeding the princess, helping her bathe, and putting her to bed, I was relaxing in the secret hot spring when Fiona appeared. She still seemed beaten up from her special training, but today she managed to walk on her own afterward.
“……It’s you”
“Hey”
I’ve gotten to the point where I can understand Fiona’s words, as long as they aren’t difficult idioms. I can even manage simple greetings myself. It’s not Saint Gardo style, but I’ll let that slide.
“It seems you took care of Ran-sama. ……I thank you”
“Ah……”
Fiona changed into her bathing robe without hesitation. As she splashed into the hot spring, she spoke with an oddly subdued tone. I hadn’t expected such a straightforward thank you and couldn’t respond. Fiona sighed, rubbing her bruises.
“Northwest language is fine. Since you understand my language, I’ve also learned enough Northwest language to communicate”
“Huh, really?”
“Thanks to Irina-sama”
……Come to think of it, Irina mentioned trying to teach Fiona too. Being taught for this period and gaining enough comprehension……does that mean she’s not as dumb as I thought?
“What’s with that surprised look? I do care that I can’t communicate with the townspeople”
“You just didn’t seem like the type to take academic studies seriously……”
“I may not like it, but I’m not so twisted that I’d take my studies lightly!”
……Right. When it comes to being serious, she always is serious, this one. Just not very efficient.
“……I read the myth Ran-sama wrote. The one about how you saved the Elf Territory, saved Trot, and ended the dragons’ war……I’m only halfway through”
“Eh? That’s what it’s about?”
Wait, does that even qualify as a myth? It’s got nothing to do with royalty or Saint Gardo. Fiona looked utterly dumbfounded. I hate it when this guy gives me that look.
“Ran-sama is the foundation for creating the myth. Unless we detail exactly who you are and what you did to become the Dragon Rider, Ran-sama’s courage and value won’t shine through”
“……Well, I suppose that’s true”
If they turn all that into myth, won’t it become a rambling mess? Can all the believers really share it? ……Fiona didn’t answer that question.
“Honestly, it’s not exactly believable……no, it’s not that I don’t believe in Ran-sama”
“No, disbelief is a perfectly normal reaction”
Even I would have to laugh it off if someone told me most of it. However, Fiona looked at me and the silver dragon girls with black collars watching from a slight distance.
“……At the very least, I suppose a miracle did occur”
“Well……yeah”
Fiona gave me a vaguely mature smile as I nodded ambiguously.
“This is our story”
“……?”
She said something I didn’t quite understand. What exactly was our story.