In the middle of the vast plain was a highway stretching far to the North. Although it was called a highway, it was actually just ground without weeds since it had been treaded on so many times, thus it naturally became a road. Since there’s no such thing as a suspension in carriages of this world, the carriage crew would surely have sore butts by the time they reached their destination.
Suddenly, a shadow ran through the uneven road at an unbelievable speed. On its black body were two wheels advancing forward on the uneven road, carrying silhouettes of three people.
They are Hajime, Yue, and Shia. They moved on the highway at a speed incomparable to the time when they were at the bottom of the Raisen Grand Canyon. It might be more than 80km/h. Because there was nothing to obstruct his magic, the magic-driven two-wheeler’s original specs could be displayed. Their seating order was just as usual: Yue between Hajime’s arms, and Shia at his back. Shia’s rabbit ears were pata pata, fluttering in the wind.
Warm sunlight poured down because of the good weather, and with Yue using her magic to adjust the wind pressure, it could be said it was good weather for touring. In fact, Yue and Shia were feeling the warm sunlight and comfortable wind with their entire bodies, closing their eyes because it felt pleasant.
“Hau~, it’s niice~, Yue-saa~n. We should exchange places when we retuurn~”
“… … That won’t do. This is my spot.”
“Eh~, don’t say that, let us change our places~, it’s nice in the back~”
Shia demanded to Yue that they exchange their seats with a slackened and stretched tone. With an unpleasant face, Hajime looked at Shia’s relaxed face over his shoulder and answered in Yue’s stead.
“You know, you can’t sit in front, right? Also, you’ll only obstruct me. Especially those rabbit ears. They’ll hit my eyes when the wind blows.”
“Ah~, that’s riight~”
“… … It’s not good, she’s almost asleep.”
Apparently, Shia was half-asleep because of how comfortable it was. She laid her head on Hajime’s shoulder with all of her weight. She was also half-asleep when she was talking to Yue before.
“Well, with this pace we only need one day. I’ll go non-stop, so let’s rest when it’s time to rest.”
Just as Hajime had said, Hajime and his party were going to a town only one day away; the town closest to the northern mountain range area where Will’s party undertook the investigation request. They had advanced as is without taking a break, so they would probably arrive at sunset and start searching after a night’s stay in town. The reason they were in a hurry was, of course, the fact that as more time passed, Will’s party’s odds of survival decreased. But because Hajime was being proactive for another person’s sake, Yue was glancing upward with doubt on her face.
Hajime let out a wry smile when he saw Yue adorably incline her neck in between his arms.
“… … Proactive?”
“Aa, it’s better if he’s alive. If it’s like that, he will truly be grateful. After all, problems from the Kingdom and Church are waiting ahead of us. So, isn’t it better to have more support? I don’t want to take care of them one by one, after all.”
“… … I see.”
In fact, he didn’t know what could possibly be done with Ilwa’s support. If anything, the possibility of him being a type of useless support was bigger. But, if it could be acquired with little work, then the work might not be regrettable.
“I have also heard that our destination, the lakeside town, has plenty of rivers. That’s why the town’s outskirts are the continent’s number one rice-producing area.”
“… … Rice farm?”
“Ou, in other words it’s the rice. Rice. It’s the staple food of my hometown, Japan. I haven’t eaten it even once since I came here. So, although I don’t know if it is the same thing or not, I want to hurry to eat it.”
“… … Nn, I also want to eat it… … The town’s name?”
Hajime looked far into the distance while remembering rice dishes. Looking at the Hajime with a content expression plastered across his face, Yue hadn’t yet actually heard of the town’s name and asked him. “Hah”, Hajime was startled, he even was a little embarrassed when he noticed Yue’s gaze. He then replied with a somewhat loud voice to hide his embarrassment.
“It’s the Lakeside Town called Ul.”
* * *
“Haa, there’s no clue today, too… Shimizu-kun, where on earth did you go…”
With her shoulders dropping dejectedly, the person who was walking through Ul’s main street was one of the summoned ones; the teacher, Hatayama Aiko. Her usual cheerfulness was gone. Currently, she was tortured with anxiety and worry, while a gloomy atmosphere hung around her. Somehow the main street’s color, and even the streetlights were dimmer than usual.
“Aiko, don’t be so disappointed. We still don’t know anything. It’s enough to just think he is safe. What can you do if you don’t even believe.”
“That’s right, Ai-chan-sensei. Shimizu-kun’s room didn’t seem to be attacked. So isn’t the probability of him going out on his own be higher? Please stop thinking of just bad things.”
Because Aiko was low-spirited, the commander of Aiko’s exclusive bodyguards; David, and her student; Yuka, called out to her. In her surroundings were the familiar Knights and students. They were also severely worried about Aiko and tried to talk to her.
One of the classmates, Shimizu Yukitoshi had disappeared for a little over two weeks. Aiko and the others had tried to search for him, leaving no stone unturned. However, his whereabouts were still unknown. There had been no sightings in this town, so they had sent messengers to the other towns and villages in the vicinity, but in the end their efforts were still in vain.
Although, at first they thought he was involved in an accident, Shimizu’s room was clean. Shimizu himself was a “Dark Magician,” a class that possessed high aptitude toward dark magic. He also had high aptitude in other magic systems, that was why he couldn’t be done in by the neighborhood thugs. A lot of them thought he left voluntarily.
Moreover, Shimizu was an obedient indoor type who had low sociability. Even among the classmates he didn’t have an especially close friend. It was also surprising that he wanted to be Ai-chan’s bodyguard. Because of that, other than Aiko, the students were sure of his safety. They were more concerned about Aiko, who became more low-spirited as the days passed. There was no need to say how worried her bodyguard Knights were.
Incidentally, they had reported it to the Kingdom and Church, and it seemed like a search party they had organized was coming. Shimizu was a summoned one with talent in magic, unlike the episode with Hajime in which the top management didn’t even take an optimistic view. The search party would arrive in another two to three days.
Because words of concern came one after another, Aiko mentally hit herself. Whether he was involved in an incident or voluntarily disappeared, didn’t matter, it didn’t change the fact that it worried her. However, she must put it aside for now. Now her duty was to cheer up the other students at her side. That’s why, “I am these children’s teacher!”. Aiko took a deep breath then slapped her cheeks with her hands to recover her spirit.
“Everyone, I am sorry for worrying you. It’s just as you said. Nothing would be solved by brooding over it. Shimizu is an excellent magic-user. He’ll surely be okay. Now, let us believe he is safe. Now, for today’s dinner! Let’s eat our fill and prepare for tomorrow!”
Although they knew she was overdoing it, the students obediently replied to her with a shout “Ye~s”, as they cheered up. The Knights were also pleased with her appearance.
KARANh KARANh
When that sound rang out, the door of the inn Aiko and the others were staying at opened. It was the number one inn in Ul. Its name was “Water Fairy Inn”. A long time ago, a pair of husband and wife fairies stayed in Uldeia Lake, and that was the origin of its name. Uldeia Lake was the lake boasted as the largest in the continent, and located on the outskirts of Ul town. Its size was about four times that of Lake Biwa in Japan.