Chapter 8
Beloved Child of the Spirits Arc
. On the Journey
We entered the neighboring country of Matuoso.
At the border crossing, as expected, they asked about the identity of the Fire Child. So, we showed the letter from my brother stating that he was entrusting his son to us, and another letter from the church in Trebol explaining that they were taking custody of the Fire Child.
By that time, the Fire Child had started to open up a little to Wio.
“I want a Ruje too.”
“Meeting one is quite a stroke of luck.”
“Stro–ke of luck?”
“If you’re lucky, you can meet one.”
Wio couldn’t use the advanced skill of putting things into words a child could understand, so the Fire Child probably didn’t understand even half of what he said. Still, he had begun to timidly ask about things he didn’t understand, even if he was still holding back. The fact that he was starting to talk at all was already great progress.
While we were traveling along a road lined only with forest, I sensed monsters approaching.
“Monsters are coming. Five of them from the right.”
“Ryuka, monsters are coming. This is how we use our power.”
To show the Fire Child, Wio deliberately waited until the monsters drew close. Then, with a single spell, he unleashed five ice spears at once. He had raised the power for demonstration purposes, so all five monsters were felled instantly.
“Wow!”
It was his first time seeing monsters defeated, and the Fire Child’s eyes sparkled as he begged to see it again. Instead, Wio created an ice fish and handed it to him. The boy hopped about in excitement, marveling at the ice in his hands, completely forgetting about the monster corpses. I took that chance to purify the remains.
“Can I do it too?”
“You’ll be able to. But if you use it wrongly, you’ll hurt people. You must learn properly.”
“Okay!”
That was the first moment the Fire Child looked forward to using his power in a positive way.
After that, he constantly begged Wio to show him magic, and even tried to imitate what he saw. Because of that, I had to strictly warn the surrounding fire spirits not to respond to him. It would be disastrous if they accidentally did. Wio kept telling him that he could only use magic after learning properly, but the boy probably didn’t really understand. At the same time, Wio couldn’t scold him too harshly, fearing the child would come to see his powers as something bad. Subtle explanations like that were far too difficult for Wio—so it fell to me to keep the spirits under control.
To make sure this journey wouldn’t become just a painful memory of being cast out of his home, we stopped by food stalls or scenic places along the way. My brother had strictly ordered us never to stay in inns used by adventurers, so from the outside it might have looked more like sightseeing than traveling.
The Fire Child had never left the Kingdom of Ordechia, and had rarely gone out even in the royal capital. Now, everything was new and fascinating to him. Once he grew more comfortable with Wio, his natural strong-willed personality began to show again. At food stalls, he even threw tantrums, demanding to try every unusual food. Wio, of course, ignored him completely, so eventually the boy gave up.
The journey went smoothly, and after about twenty days, we arrived at the royal capital of Trebol.
Since seeing Wio’s magic, the Fire Child spent all his time on the driver’s bench talking to him. Even when told to rest in the wagon if he felt sleepy, he insisted on staying by Wio’s side until the last moment, often nearly toppling off. Seeing how attached he had become made me worry about the parting ahead.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll go to the church, then discuss what to do afterward.”
“He’s going to cry.”
“It can’t be helped. I intend to stay here for a while and watch how he settles in. Is that all right?”
“Yes. We should see if he can adapt.”
Even Wio seemed reluctant about the coming farewell.
“What if we traveled together forever?”
“That wouldn’t be good for him. He’d lose the chance to be around children his own age. If he really can’t adapt here, we can reconsider.”
“So you agree with leaving him here. Did you want to come here yourself, Wio?”
“If one can live here without being looked at strangely, then yes, this place is better. But I still think it was good that I was raised in that house.”
“Why not write that in a letter? I doubt your parents were eager to give you this role. I think they’re still unsure about what would have been best—not only for this child, but for the Wio you used to be.”
“…I see.”
One reason Wio had grown emotionally subdued was probably the result of his magical power going out of control. Since strong emotions stirred the spirits, he had made suppressing his feelings part of his daily life.
But I think it was also partly just his nature. Wio had lived in the knight order, harshly disciplining himself—but to me, he seemed like someone who was naturally a bit absentminded.
That’s why I don’t think he considered his circumstances as tragic as his parents feared. Of course, there were parts of his heart that had worn down.
