Chapter 10

They walked quickly through the market alley and entered a tavern.

Both of them ordered cold ales. They gulped down the ales that were quickly served, took a breath, and then began to talk.

"If you mean the small bird with dark red feathers, I think it's Brent Baines, the head of the wizard corps. A kind-looking man with a goatee, don't you remember?"

"Oh, that man. The one who flatly said he couldn't and wouldn't send me back to my original world, right?"

"Did he say that? Did you ask him why?"

"He said it's because his employed summoner would waste his life. But more than that, I might have been seen too. I shouldn't have been summoned, and you shouldn't have been summoned either. Is it okay that we were together?"

"Indeed, that's not good. I don't think... but..."

"What do you mean? Don't stop now."

"Let's consider the worst-case scenario. I think it's better if we leave the capital."

You don't think we'll be killed, right? I tried to laugh it off, but remembering the extremely cold response when it was discovered that I had no magic power, I couldn't feel at ease. There is a risk in keeping me alive, but there is no benefit. Now that I think about it, it's surprising that they didn't eliminate me and let me leave the castle.

"Haru. Will you leave the capital with me?"

"Coincidence. I was about to say the same thing."

Then, the two of them went out the back door and headed straight for the inn Aura. I looked up many times. There were no tiny birds, but I couldn't feel at ease.

Aura is Sherry's family home. If we stayed there, it would cause her trouble. I didn't want to inconvenience my benefactor.

We returned to the inn, explained the situation, and decided to leave the inn Aura. The owner, Modal, Connie, the head servant, Claire, and the cook, Miles, were all surprised and saddened.

"Please forgive us for leaving so suddenly after you helped us. But if there's a chance that we were seen by someone important from the castle, it's better not to be here."

When I said this, Connie hugged me and cried.

"Poor you. I'm sorry I couldn't help you. I'm really sorry."

"Connie, don't apologize. Thank you for being kind. I'll write a letter when things calm down."

"Haru. Come back here when things settle down."

"Claire..."

"Got it, don't drink unboiled water."

"Understood. Thank you, Miles, for the delicious meals."

"Haru."

"Modal, I will never forget your kindness."

We said goodbye to everyone and left the inn Aura. Victor had already gone ahead. We had a meeting place. I packed the half-knitted bedspread, the leftover yarn, a few changes of clothes, and a generous amount of my salary into my backpack and walked.

♦︎

In a room in the royal castle, the head of the wizard corps, Brent, and the prime minister, Benedict, were facing each other.

"We lost sight of them in the market. It seems the surveillance bird was noticed."

"Hmm. I thought Victor wasn't that recovered yet."

Brent was not convinced by this surveillance.

"Isn't surveillance unnecessary? A burned-out wizard and a woman with no magic power are no threat."

"Perhaps not if it were just Victor. But that woman is concerning. Even though it was the king's opinion, it was a mistake not to eliminate her."

Prime Minister Benedict was anxious.

The foresight wizard still predicts a disaster that could shake the nation. Yet, the next best summoner after Victor cannot successfully summon. He says he cannot find the right person to summon no matter what.

"The king is in a hurry. We must summon the holy maiden at all costs. If one of those two spreads rumors about the disaster while things are not going well, the commoners will start to question what the wizards are doing."

"Prime Minister, Victor is not that kind of person."

"I don't know. He was always shouting that Haru was the holy maiden and that the summoning was successful until he left here."

Brent was regretting it. The current summoner cannot find the summoning target no matter what. He wondered if things would have been different if he had not accepted the prime minister's order to make everything disappear and had kept Victor and Haru here.

(Although it's too late now, Victor's summoning magic was not the problem.)

Brent was confident that Victor's summoning was successful. The unexpected part was that a person with no magic power came instead of a holy maiden with strong magic power.

Why was a person with no magic power chosen as the summoning target? Brent couldn't understand it either.

♦︎

"You have quite a lot of luggage."

"The half-knitted bedspread and a lot of yarn are in there."

"Bedspread? Why...?"

"I don't have any personal items, so I thought I'd try knitting one. I didn't have anything."

"I see. I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"I'm not angry with you. Where are we going? I don't know anything about this country, so I'm counting on you."

We were on a merchant's cart that we had paid in advance to ride. It was heading south to a major city, a place Victor had visited only once.

"I chose a city I've only been to once because the city where I grew up might be searched for."

"Right. I'm looking forward to it. I hope it's a nice city."

Seeing Haru not complain even in this situation, Victor's heart ached.