Chapter 192 - <16>
The four of them were reunited just a few hours after Franz and Edward had returned from the green terrace and settled into what had been the meeting hall for the Soukai Clan and humans.
It was chilly for summer, so they had lit a fire in the hearth to dry their clothes when the two who were supposed to have fallen from the cliff suddenly appeared. Apparently, there was a path from the holy land that connected here, but they were told it had been rigged to never open again once it was closed.
The first thing Anna asked when she saw Franz and the others' faces was how many soldiers and Soukai Clan members had been caught up in the Water Dragon's rampage and lost their lives. When they explained that Touo had rescued most of them, Anna collapsed into Ritz's arms as if all her strength had left her. She must have been incredibly relieved.
But at the sight of Anna, Franz and Edward let out a deep sigh of relief. It seemed the two of them had managed to make up.
That day, they were all exhausted and stayed the night without further discussion. The next day, Ritz went to retrieve their luggage from the terrace. As they ate the emergency rations he brought back, they decided to write down the stories of the two who had been to the holy land.
As Anna's story jumped around, she would frequently look up at Ritz for confirmation, and he would smile and nod each time. Seeing this, Franz felt a deep sense of relief. More than anything, more than them having gone to the holy land, he was happy that these two had made up.
Now he wouldn't have to walk on eggshells around them.
Even so, there were still a mountain of unanswered questions. The first was about Anna, who was called the Beloved Child of the Water Spirit King and possessed such strong spiritual power.
It had been thought that Anna was of mixed blood, born between a human and some other race. But it seemed that was not the case. Even among the Soukai Clan, who also manipulated water spirits like Anna, there was no one with such abilities. If so, who was Anna, where was she born, and where did she come from?
Anna herself seemed to be the most concerned, but there was no answer.
Then there was the matter of where Kuchiba, who called Anna a princess, had disappeared to.
He had certainly thought he had fallen from the cliff, but the area below was a holy land where people lived. In other words, Kuchiba had jumped from the cliff and vanished.
Where to…?
No matter how much he pondered, these two mysteries seemed unlikely to be solved. The direction the stone monument pointed, according to what Ritz had heard, was west. They didn't have a map, but west from this island would be that great mountain range. In the end, it might be that all the stone monuments pointed to the great mountain range.
But they couldn't just cross the mountain range recklessly. The mountains were so high that no one had ever succeeded in climbing them. If so, there was only one goal.
The holy land of the dark country, Zeum. It seemed the only way to find the truth was to reach the dark holy land where Kuchiba was said to be, and from there, aim for the place where the Spirit Kings were.
In the end, it was the day after the group had decided on their future course and roughly planned their method of entry into Zeum that Touo came to pick them up.
As they celebrated each other's safety, the Suien they returned to had a tense atmosphere, a changed impression from when they had set sail.
A story was being whispered around that the legend of the country being destroyed if one laid a hand on the special autonomous region was true. Everyone had come to believe that the Goddess did exist, and that there were absolute rules.
Even amidst this, the Soukai Clan living in Suien were thought to have stood by the human side and saved people, and they were being received with a sense of awe. The attitude toward the Soukai Clan had changed from disgust to reverence.
This might have been what Kuchiba wanted. That's what Franz thought. Anna's rampage was a factor, but the war and disaster had completely transformed the humans' somewhat condescending disgust for the Soukai Clan. Kuchiba's plan to make them revere the demi-humans as a higher race had been almost completely successful.
And yet… as Edward said. And yet, as long as humans and demi-humans lived in the same land, friction was unavoidable.
A few days later, the Soukai Clan's attitude softened, and the resumption of the pearl trade was announced. According to Anna, "The Miko-sama persuaded them," but the real reason was unclear. The only thing that was certain was that the concept of calamity that Kuchiba had used to manipulate the Soukai Clan had, for some reason, vanished.
While preparing for their journey to the dark country of Zeum, Franz, after some thought, decided to have Luan look at his 'Intercontinental Network Business Plan'. He wanted to know how this plan would look in the eyes of the Soukai Clan, who lived amidst discrimination.
He asked him to read it at the boarding house and entrusted him with the bundle of papers, saying he would get a reply later. He thought Luan might be tired after being captured and released as a hostage, but the good-natured Luan accepted it with a smile.
He was sure that Luan, who had been exposed to deep-seated discrimination during this incident, would be able to tell him whether this plan, conceived only in Franz's head, was just an idealistic dream, or if it was a plan that could be realistically accepted by other races.
If it was just an idealistic story, then there would be no point in planning it further or moving forward with it.
On the eve of their departure, he arrived a little early at Qiuzi's shop, where she was planning to hold a farewell party. He sat down in front of Luan, who had finished his preparations and was taking a short break. Before he could open his mouth, a glass of cold water appeared. He drank it down, and a cold cocktail appeared.
Just as he thought he was being fobbed off, the documents Franz had written were gently placed in front of him.
"I read it. It's a grand plan."
"...Yes, it is."
Franz took the documents he had written and flipped through them.
—The Intercontinental Network Business Plan.
It was a grand system for delivering goods, built by everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, including those who traveled between cities and those on journeys.
The current system on the Eneonea Continent for delivering goods, relying on merchants or city carriages, was unreliable. That's why the price was different for every carriage and every merchant, and if you were unlucky, your goods could even be sold off along the way.
So he thought it would be convenient if there was someone who could centralize it, set up information centers in large cities, and deliver goods for a set fee based on distance. At first, it would be enough to have them in large cities, but in the future, it would be good if the person delivering the goods could accept packages in every village and city they walked through.
In addition to the delivery of goods, they would also set up a handyman-like department that would introduce jobs that could earn a living. If you belonged to that network, you could get a job introduced at the information center. If you could travel while helping various people, you could surely open up paths for many different people.
Problems with spirits that humans couldn't handle, difficult problems that humans couldn't handle. If demi-humans took on these tasks, personal connections would surely be formed. If that spread, and conversely, humans became able to take on the troubles of demi-humans, he thought it might be possible to reduce the discrimination between races on this continent.
He wanted to leave such a system for Ritz and Anna, who would continue to live in this world for a long time. A system where they could make a living not as mercenaries, but by saving people in trouble. A system that could leave behind their ideals even after Edward and Franz were gone.
That's why he wanted Luan, who had endured so much, to see this before Ritz, who was probably busy with various things and hadn't looked at it.
He looked up and saw Luan smiling.
"I think it's a good idea."
Luan, who had sat down on a stool inside the counter, placed a glass of water in front of himself as well.
"It's true that the current delivery of letters and small parcels has a lot of unclear points. I think the most important thing will be how to build a track record."
"Yes. I know."
In order to create a trustworthy system, the initial selection of personnel would have to be extremely strict. But if the initial selection was successful and it got on track, they could move forward.
"I hope this becomes a root."
Luan said with a smile.
"A root?"
"That's right. We demi-humans are all like floating weeds that can't put down roots in human society. But if we can put down roots, I think we can live together."
In his calm words, a seriousness seeped through. He was saying the same thing as Ritz. Ritz had also said he was a floating weed.
"If you're going to put it into action, would you let me do something?"
"...You'll help me?"
"Of course. We demi-humans are people too. That's why we want to put down roots and live in the same world as people."
The same world as people. He realized that just living on the continent didn't mean they were living in the same world. Perhaps being able to freely walk the world, for the demi-humans who wished to go out, was what it meant to live in the same world.
"You think so too, don't you, Ritz?"
Luan said, smiling at the back of the kitchen.
"Yeah."
Ritz, carrying a basket full of a large quantity of wedge-cut onions, came out and said so.
"...You were here."
"I was. I work here, after all."
Luan laughed at those words.
"It's a big help."
Ritz, who had put down the heavy-looking onions with a thud, disappeared into the back again and came out with a basket full of a large quantity of carrots. These were roughly chopped. After carrying several baskets, he sat down near Luan and I spoke to him.
"Did you read what's inside?"
"Of course I read it."
"Even though you were busy?"
"Well… it's not like I looked at it carefully, but I got the gist of it."
Those words were typical of Ritz, who was not good at reading documents. He probably skimmed it. But when did he read it? My question must have been written on my face, because Luan answered it for me.
"I was reading it at the shop, and Ritz asked to see it, so I lent it to him."
"...I see…"
That was good, then. I thought Ritz wouldn't read it. Ritz seemed somewhat offended by Franz's expression and said.
"Even I can tell you worked hard on it. A companion wrote it, so of course I'd read it."
"Ah… thank you."
"Yeah."
Come to think of it, Ritz was that kind of person. He cherished the people he had decided were his companions.
"So… what do you think?"
"...Let's see. If we start with Yuresla first, it should work out somehow. It'll probably be complete within the country in about ten years."
"Ten years…"
"That's a long estimate. I think there's a demand for it, so it'll probably be fast once it gets on track. Once it's complete in Yuresla, foreigners walking through the country might use it. Then we can gradually expand that foothold to other countries."
Being told something so practical for the first time, it felt like a prospect had opened up before me. At a loss for words, Ritz laughed.
"Luan's words are a perfect fit, aren't they? If we can spread roots throughout the continent with the Yuresla Kingdom as the tree, this plan could grow into a great tree. And each of us is a leaf."
"...Do you really think it will work?"
Pessimistic words slipped out. But Ritz and Luan encouraged Franz.
"I'm sure it will work out."
"You're not alone. I'm here, Anna's here, Ed's here, and in this city, there's Qiuzi and Luan. There are probably still people thinking about bridging the gap between demi-humans and humans. Lef, Marguerite, and Anil are all thinking the same way."
The interactions between the demi-humans he had met so far and humans vividly came to mind.
"I understand. I'll try to move forward in a more realistic direction."
That was Franz's declaration of action.
"Alright. I'm counting on you."
With that, Ritz, who still had some prep work to do, returned to the back of the kitchen. Luan also stood up and began preparing for the farewell party. In their casual actions, I felt a sort of unspoken wish.
Franz stood up and took a deep breath.
He would talk to Orphe about this when they met. Thanks to his master, who had made him travel around with demi-humans, he had come up with something like this. What did he think of him as a disciple? To do that, he had to pass through the dark country first. He couldn't lose to Kuchiba's threats here.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
On their last night in this city, wanting to show his gratitude in some way, Franz called out to Luan.