Usually, I would go straight up to the healer’s room, but today, as soon as I entered, a person ran forward.
“Lady Adrian. The healer is resting today. Were you not informed?”
“No. I just came to get some extra medicine.”
“Is that so? What medicine are you looking for?”
“I heard there’s a medicine that restores all the vitality of the body.”
“Please wait a moment.”
He quietly bowed and went inside.
While waiting, I quickly scanned the interior of the first floor.
Several people were moving busily in places I usually passed without interest.
As I quickly checked their faces one by one, I finally spotted Hines.
Hines looked busy drying or sorting various collected herbs on one side.
As I hadn’t suspected, his hands were delicate in handling the herbs, and there was no hesitation in his movements for classification.
Fatigue was deeply etched on his face.
As I was silently watching him, the man who had gone to fetch the medicine returned.
There was a small vial in his hand.
A cloudy-colored liquid sloshing inside a transparent bottle.
“Is that medicine made by the healer?”
“Yes, it is. Everyone knows the recipe, but even if the same ingredients are used, the efficacy differs because the magic power of the maker is mixed in. Rest assured that such important medicine is only made with her magic power.”
I had only asked a question out of curiosity, but the explanation just flowed continuously.
This seemed to be a characteristic of the East Tower.
“Thank you.”
“Please take care on your way.”
After receiving the medicine, I bowed and turned my back.
Since I couldn’t meet the healer anyway, there was no reason to stay any longer.
Nor was there any need to keep watching Hines focus on his work.
But it felt a shame to go straight back to the room.
While walking around to get some fresh air since I was already out, I voiced a sudden question.
“By the way, do you have any other abilities?”
[Are you doubting my abilities?]
“No, I’m just curious. Knowing might be helpful later.”
I opened the pouch and took out the cookie I had secretly brought.
As I offered it toward my shoulder, Aren, who had been grumbling as if offended, quickly hopped down onto my palm and began pecking at the cookie.
[Of course, I am skilled in attack, and I can also block magic! With these wings, I can fly anywhere quickly~]
Pleased from eating the sweet cookie, the creature replied as if singing.
I vaguely dismissed the other words, but one thing registered clearly.
“Anywhere? Then, can you go from here to Caldrich instantly?”
[Caldrich?]
“It’s my hometown.”
First, I gauged the direction and pointed northwest as I spoke.
“If you go straight this way, you’ll find a city similar in size to this one. That’s Caldrich.”
Aren bounced slightly and looked straight in the direction my hand was pointing.
It tilted its head while continuing to eat the remaining cookie.
It seemed not to understand with such a simple explanation.
[If it’s your hometown, there must be many objects containing your energy, right?]
“Well… I suppose so?”
If they hadn’t gotten rid of all my belongings the moment I left, that is.
Come to think of it, I had left a lot of usable items behind.
[Then it will be easy to find.]
“Ugh?!”
I felt a stinging pain in my palm for a moment.
The beak that was pecking the cookie had pressed into my skin.
Was it possible that there wasn’t enough cookie?
The small beak was surprisingly sharp, and the spot where it had pricked me deeply was reddened.
But no blood was drawn.
[If I do this, I can find it right away.]
“Huh?”
[Watch closely, my Master. I’ll show you how fast I am~]
“No, why now?!”
Before I could stop it, Aren flew up and headed in the direction I pointed.
A gust of wind rose behind the creature’s small wings, and the tiny body instantly vanished from sight.
It was a distance that would take several days even riding a fast horse.
Would the path in the sky, where it could fly straight, be different?
“Oh? Isn’t that Lady Adrian? What are you doing here?”
As if I had committed a mistake, my body flinched at the small sound. I calmed my pounding heart and turned around.
Rodney, the knight with a fragile impression, was approaching with a friendly smile.
Seeing the bundle of documents in his hand, it seemed he was running an errand.
In this case, it was a good thing Aren had flown off in the other direction.
If our prediction was correct, this creature was the most likely suspect to be the enemy’s spy.
If the Divine Beast he was trying so hard to acquire appeared right before his eyes, he might lose his mind.
“…I was watching the clear sky.”
Even as I answered, I belatedly rolled my eyes to check the state of the sky.
Though there were some clouds, it was fortunately clear and blue.
“Ah, is that so. I was worried you might not be feeling well.”
The face smiling back at me overflowed with kindness.
Was he harboring a viper in his heart with such a face?
Being a spy is truly not for everyone.
If he was the spy, as we suspected, his acting might already surpass Klen’s.
“I appreciate that. But I am well today, so there’s no need to worry.”
Of course, I couldn’t reveal my true feelings either, so I smiled gently back at him.
A pathetic flower that might wilt at any moment.
I continuously brought to mind the image of a precarious figure that would collapse at any moment, but I didn’t know if it was properly conveyed.
A subtle tension flowed even within the gentle atmosphere.
Seeing him smiling leisurely, he hadn’t been to the forest yet, it seemed.
Even if it was just an errand, he couldn’t go every day.
I also pushed up the corners of my lips as if nothing was wrong and asked.
“Where are you headed?”
“I was on my way to the West Tower.”
The West Tower, huh… I hadn’t planned on going there.
But since Rodney was going, I suddenly felt interested.
“Ah, as it happens, I have business there too. Let’s go together.”
“Yes.”
He neither welcomed nor seemed bothered by it.
Rodney, carrying the documents, trotted behind me as I walked ahead.
A person rumored to be frail and a knight who looked visibly weak.
The unusual combination seemed to attract attention, and people around turned their heads to look more than once.
No particular conversation took place as we pierced through all the gazes and arrived at the West Tower.
It was less a comfortable silence than an atmosphere where we were both wary of accidentally being caught out if we said anything unnecessary.
“Lady Adrian! You’ve come?!”
A startled mage ran up and bowed his waist upon seeing me.
Rodney, seemingly forgetting that we had moved together, familiarly went off somewhere.
“What brings you here without notice…”
If he were to send me away now, I would just come back with Klen, who would push his way in even more stubbornly.
Having already learned this fact, he tried his best to appease me.
He seemed quite nervous, wiping cold sweat with a handkerchief.
“Is Elliot here?”
