Chapter 142 - <15>
A little over two weeks had passed since they came to Ciedena. Franz, who had come to Merite the day before with Anna and Edward, had stayed at Thomas's house, and the next morning, feeling somewhat restless, he made his way to Constanze's tent on the outskirts of the village.
Though he was warmly welcomed inside, he had no idea what to do. With his mind not yet made up on what to say, Franz found himself facing Constanze in her tearoom inside the tent.
Fragrant tea sent up gentle wisps of steam between them. Next to it was Constanze's breakfast sandwich. It seemed he had arrived right in the middle of her breakfast. He thought he should have come a little later, but it was too late now.
"Um…"
"What is it?"
"No… never mind."
Constanze also seemed unsure of what to say, fidgeting as she started to speak, then retracting her words. It would be nice if Ritz or Edward were here to mediate at times like this, but Franz knew that wouldn't solve anything.
Even if it's something he's bad at, he has to deal with it himself first. Franz believed that was the first step to overcoming the powerlessness he'd realized in Lef's village and the weakness of relying on others for everything.
"My master’s house."
"What is it?"
"Ah, no, I was just wondering if my master's house is still there…"
"The spirit user’s? No. It’s no longer there. I went to see it first, thinking there might be a clue to finding you, Big Brother, but it's nowhere to be found. And when I ask people, they all say they don't know."
"I see."
It was just as Orphe had said. There was nothing where the house used to be, and only those who wanted to remember, remembered. As he came to terms with this, he noticed Constanze looking up at him with an anxious expression. It seemed the conversation had stalled again.
"How did you know I was here?"
"How, you ask… you passed through Saradio, didn't you, Big Brother?"
"You figured it out from that?"
"Yes. I had it watched every day, after all."
"Was I that conspicuous?"
"…Yes. Quite."
"I see."
So his disguise was too much after all. He should have thought about it more when Ritz pointed it out. Come to think of it, Constanze was supposed to be in primary school. How did she watch every day?
"What about school?"
"My school?"
"Yes."
"It's the long summer vacation. There's still a month and a half left."
"How did you keep watch?"
"I used the Guard Corps to keep watch."
"I see."
It was true that she couldn't keep watch while attending primary school every day. I see, he thought with understanding, but at this point, he was at a complete dead end. He didn't know what to talk about.
After seeing the Spirit Tribe, he had firmly decided to 'talk to Constanze as a normal brother, without involving the Lucina Family,' but he had no idea what normal siblings talked about. What on earth do normal siblings talk about?
Franz already had trouble figuring out what to talk about with others, so to suddenly be asked to do something so advanced was a problem.
And when he thought about it, besides being children of the Lucina Family, Franz and Constanze had nothing in common. If he forbade that topic, there were no other common topics.
"…Big Brother?"
"Yeah."
"Um, am I a bother?"
"Not really."
He wasn't really that bothered, so he said so, but Constanze's face twisted in sadness. It seemed that way of putting it wasn't good.
"You're not a bother. It’s just… I don’t know what to talk about."
He said this in confusion, and then it occurred to him. He was asking questions, but he wasn't trying to listen to what the other person had to say. Since he was only asking questions that could be answered immediately, it was only natural that the conversation wouldn't continue.
So he desperately tried to remember the conversations between Ritz and Anna, who could talk about silly things forever. How could he continue a conversation like those two? He crossed his arms, racking his brain.
What kind of conversations did they have? He always thought they were silly and never really listened to the content of their conversations. As he was desperately wracking his brain, Constanze muttered sadly.
"I'm sorry, Big Brother. It seems I'm causing you trouble."
"No, that's not it."
As he denied it, he finally remembered Ritz's words. The phrase Ritz often used in conversations with Anna and himself. 'So what do you think about that?' To that, Anna's answer was always 'Well, I think…' and Franz's was 'I think…' When asked that, he would talk about himself while thinking.
'Wanting to talk' probably means there's something you want someone to hear. So Franz should have said this to Constanze first.
"You have something you want to talk to me about, don't you?"
At that, Constanze lifted her downcast face.
"Will you tell me?"
"Is it alright?"
"Yes."
At that, Constanze smiled happily.
"I'm glad. I thought you wouldn't want to hear what I have to say, Big Brother."
"That's not… true, but."
"Because, it was because I brought Jin that you had such a terrible experience. You were injured, Big Brother, and that girl was… she was almost attacked, wasn't she?"
Constanze knows more about the world than Anna, Franz thought.
He heard it from Anna herself later, but when Jin pushed her onto the bed, she said, "I was scared, but I had no idea what was going to happen."
Franz couldn't bring himself to say, "You were about to be raped, you know." If she asked, "What kind of act is that?" Franz would not be able to answer. Along with Ritz and Edward, who were also silent, he was utterly amazed by Anna, who was either pure or stupid, he couldn't tell.
Come to think of it, what did Ritz, who was in love with that very Anna, plan to do with her? The pure and innocent, worldly-unwise Anna, and Ritz, who according to Jin was a womanizer and worldly-wise. They were a complete mismatch.
But somehow, they were a pair that could only be thought of as a set. They looked most natural when they were together. But Ritz, who loved Anna and even felt desire for her, was incomprehensible to Franz. He could only think of it as bad taste.
He wanted to ask him once, "What do you really like about Anna?" but Franz didn't think he was so vulgar as to ask such a gossipy question. So he ended up looking at Ritz as if he were looking at something strange, which made Ritz himself suspicious.
After Anna found Ritz and they spent the night together, Ritz cut his hair short. From the outside, their relationship hadn't changed at all, but Ritz was now much more composed and relaxed, so there must have been some kind of change.
Some kind of change… what is it?
"Big Brother?"
"Ah, sorry."
He had to think about Constanze now. Whether she noticed Franz's absent-mindedness or not, Constanze made an apologetic face.
"You know, Big Brother. It was Jin who told me about the existence of this village and that you might be here."
"Huh?"
"Jin said someone told him. We can't ask who that was now that Jin is in that state."
The only people who knew they were going to Ciedena were themselves and Lef. If there was someone else who knew, then that would be… Orphe? No, that couldn't be. How could he, whose whereabouts were unknown, be watching them?
Thinking that, he was startled. The gem was called an "eye" in both the beastmen's village and the spirit tribe's settlement. Could this be someone's eye? The thought occurred to him, but he shook his head at the unlikely idea. In the first place, they were looking for Orphe, so it was impossible for Orphe to be following them around and telling Jin their whereabouts.
But whoever knew their whereabouts almost certainly had malicious intent towards them.
In Lef's village, they caused a landslide with spirit magic.
In Merite, they told Jin where Franz was.
It was hard to believe there was no malice in either case.
"I'm sorry, Big Brother. I should have investigated more thoroughly."
"No. Don't worry about it."
The words trailed off again. This time, Constanze seemed to be hesitating. He watched her silently for a while, then Constanze lifted her face.
"I have a request for you, Big Brother."
"What is it?"
"I only got to spend time with you until I was three, right? But to me, you were always my favorite, the most wonderful person."
He didn't know how to respond, so he remained silent.
"But, you said something that made it seem like that was just an illusion, didn't you? But I absolutely believe my intuition is right!"
"Ah, I see…"
"Because Father and my sisters, everyone, they're all just clinging to boring things like honor and money. From my perspective, you are free and very straightforward, Big Brother."
He was probably being praised, but being praised in comparison to his father didn't make him happy at all. His father was the worst, so it felt like he was only slightly above him. But he was just at the starting line, so that was probably how it was.
"Big Brother, I still have a month of summer vacation left."
"You said that."
"So please. Let me spend just one month with you!"
"Huh…?"
"Please, Big Brother. I want to spend time with you, properly, as brother and sister!"
Her eyes, the exact same color as his own, were unwavering and serious. This meant it wasn't a joke or a young lady's whim. She was serious.
"I'll bring my own tent and guards, so there's no problem. I'll prepare all the food and luggage. I won't be a bother to you at all, Big Brother."
"No, um…"
"Please!"
At Constanze's voice, there was a rustling sound, and the presence of many people overlapped. Startled, he turned to see that all the guards had prostrated themselves on the spot.
"Please, Master Franz!"
"Master Franz!"
"…Prostrating yourselves to me won't…"
Franz let out a big sigh. As long as Anna was in the group, he could easily imagine that they would definitely end up taking this group with them.
He put his reply on hold, saying he would get permission from his companions first. When he told Anna and Edward, who were enjoying a tour of Merite, about the situation, they readily replied, "Let's go together." With Anna, most things were within the realm of permission.
And since Anna had given her permission, Ritz wouldn't oppose it. Come to think of it, Ritz had outwardly opposed Anna before, but he had never ultimately rejected her opinion.
Thus, the journey of four to visit the demi-human races, though limited to a month, became a large group of about fifteen people.
The next day, the group, now joined by Ritz who had arrived late in Merite, left the village behind. Like a merchant's caravan, they would travel in a line from Merite to the Traveler's Highway, and from there to the neighboring country.
This next country was Fornu, the land of the Fire Clan.
He didn't know how far they could go in a month, but for Franz, a journey of continuous agony, for a limited time, accompanied by his sister, was about to begin.