In Search of My Beloved Synergist 5 (Finale)
“Haaah...”
Aisha, the poster girl for one of Velnika’s restaurants, let out a long sigh at the edge of the forest next to Ur Lake. Her purple hair was done up in a ponytail today.
“It’s been two years since then...” she mumbled as she thought back to the time when her head had been filled with thoughts of how wonderful god was and how much she wanted to slaughter the rebels. Her memory of those days was a bit fuzzy, and the only explanation she could think of her for her actions was that she must have been extremely drunk. As she walked through the trees, she let out another sigh.
Aisha had been working at a restaurant-inn here in Uldea’s capital for the past two years to earn enough money to set off on her travels again, but the old owner of the place was so taken with her that he wanted her to inherit the business.
“Should I take over, or should I quit...?”
She’d never get an opportunity this good again. The restaurant was well-liked by the locals, and she doubted any other owner would be generous enough to hand their establishment off to someone they had no relation to. Furthermore, the man she’d been chasing after had been branded a criminal and a heretic. Honestly, it shouldn’t even have been a question. The two adventurers who’d continued traveling with her despite her having long since run out of money to pay them seemed to think so as well.
“Gaaah, it’s all Oscar-san’s fault for being exactly my type!” Aisha shouted. She just couldn’t seem to let go of her love for him. She slowly made her way over to her secret relaxation spot, but as she arrived, she found there were already people there.
“Oh? Good afternoon, miss.”
“Hm? I didn’t expect to see anyone else at this place. Hi there!”
Two people wearing bulky robes were standing in the clearing. They looked rather suspicious, especially considering the troubled expressions they made upon seeing Aisha. Judging by their voices, they were both women though, which reassured Aisha a little.
“Hello. Are you two tourists?”
“No...we’re just here to honor a dead comrade.”
“And to return his prized possession to its proper home.”
Aisha nodded in understanding and looked down at the two women’s feet. There was a big metal box there, and sitting inside it was a scythe. Aisha decided not to comment on that.
“What brings you here?” one of the women asked.
“Umm...I just come here when I need a place to think.”
“Oh, sorry for stealing your spot. This might not make up for it, but we’d be willing to hear you out if there’s something on your mind. We’ve got quite a bit of life experience, so perhaps our advice will help.”
“It’s not really the kind of thing I should dump on strangers.”
“Well, we’re going to be here for a while, so we might as well listen.”
“R-Really? Well, if you insist...”
For some reason, Aisha felt as though she’d met one of these women before, and that they could be trusted. And so, she told them the whole story. By the time she was done, the two women were highly impressed by her grit and unending determination.
“What does the man you fell in love with look like? We’ve traveled all over the world, so we might even know him.”
Though Aisha appreciated the kindness, she was at a loss for how to respond. After all, Oscar was now a wanted criminal.
“I appreciate the thought, but I can’t tell you. Society doesn’t think too highly of him, so...”
“But at this rate, you’ll never find the man you’re looking for.”
Aisha knew that even if she chose to take over the restaurant, she’d have this lingering regret for the rest of her life. Of course, everyone had one or two big regrets in their life, but she didn’t want to end her search like this.
“He may not even be alive anymore, you know?” one of the women said gently.
Indeed, it was even possible that the man these two had come to mourn was the one Aisha was looking for. Moved by their kindness, and still feeling as though one of these women, in particular, could be trusted with anything, Aisha steeled her resolve and decided to tell them.
“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aisha Orcus. I’m Oscar Orcus’s wife.”
“What?!” the two women shouted in unison. But now that Aisha had made up her mind, she wasn’t going to stop.
“I understand your surprise! After all, he’s a traitor and a heretic! But he was born in the same city as me, and I simply cannot forget about the time we spent together!”
“Yeah, but isn’t it weird to call yourself his wife?!”
“Not at all, because I’m definitely going to marry him someday!”
“If you’re not married yet, it’s definitely weird to say that! Wait, I remember you know! You’re that girl from—” As she spoke, one of the women pushed back the hood of her robe. Upon seeing her face, Aisha finally realized why that woman had felt so familiar.
She pointed at the woman’s face and said, “Aaaaaah, it’s you, Miledi the Thief!”
“Wh-Who are you calling a thief?!”
As the two of them pointed at each other, the second robed woman—Lyutillis—pushed back her hood, her eyes sparkling. “Oooh, it’s a domestic dispute!”
Suddenly, the surface of the lake began to churn and a whirlpool formed. Oscar and Meiru were down below, preparing the seal that would bind Egxess to the bottom of the lake. There was an old shrine to the lake spirits at the bottom, and at Lyutillis’s suggestion, they’d made an epitaph carved with Badd’s last words next to the shrine so that whoever next inherited the scythe would know about its previous owner. The whirlpool surged upward, and Oscar and Meiru hopped out of the torrent of water next to Miledi and Lyutillis.
“Lyu, it’s ready. We can— Oh?” Oscar cut himself off when he saw who was with Miledi and Lyutillis.
“Oh my, what’s going on here? Do we need to silence someone?” Meiru said with a deadly grin.
Aisha was completely stunned. She hadn’t expected her reunion with Oscar would happen so suddenly.
“Umm...you’re Aisha-san, aren’t you?”
“Y-Y-Y-Y-You remember me?!”
“I-I mean, I did go to eat at your restaurant a lot,” Oscar said with a smile, reminiscing about those days.
“Oh no, that smile’s too precious,” Aisha said, fainting on the spot.
Thirty minutes later, she finally woke up. By that time, Oscar and the others had enshrined Egxess and Lyutillis had had plenty of time to mourn. At first, Meiru had suggested they leave immediately in case Aisha reported them, but after hearing about the situation, she started grinning and decided to see how things played out.
More than anything, though, it had been Miledi who had advocated they stay, saying, “You have a duty to hear Aisha-chan’s feelings, O-chan.”
Blushing, Aisha hiked up her skirt and walked over to Oscar, who was waiting by the lakeside. Miledi and the others watched from a short distance away. Their expressions were varied, and Miledi looked like she was mentally preparing herself for the possibility that Oscar would accept Aisha’s feelings.
I knew she liked me, but I never thought she’d chase me this far... Oscar thought, impressed, but also a little scared. The fact that she’d gone around calling herself his wife was more than a little concerning, after all.
“I-I’ve always loved you! I still do!”
“I’m a heretic, you know?”
“I know! B-But so long I can be with you, I don’t care if the church denounces me!”
Oscar was happy that she felt so strongly for him that she’d continued to love him even after he’d become a wanted man, which was why he decided to be honest with her.
“Honestly, it makes me really happy to hear you say that, but I can’t give you the answer you want.”
Aisha gulped and asked, “Why?”
“Because I’ve already decided how I’m going to spend the rest of my life.”
The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes, then Aisha said in a small voice, “You’re dedicating it to Miledi-san...no, not just to her, aren’t you? You’re trying to do something much bigger, I can tell.”
She matched Oscar’s forthright gaze and gave him a sad smile. Tears started to spill from her eyes as she asked, “I guess I can’t be a part of that life, can I?”
Oscar nodded quietly, and Aisha looked up at the sky.
“All right, I’m glad I got that out of the way! Thanks for hearing me out, Oscar-san!”
Tears were still spilling down her cheeks, but her smile really did look refreshed.
“That means my journey ends here. I’ll take over the owner’s place after all, I guess!”
“I see...I’m sure you’ll make it into a splendid establishment.”
Aisha turned on her heel, bowed to Miledi, and started walking off. But just before she left the clearing, she looked over her shoulder and said, “Oh yeah, Miledi-san! There’s something I always wanted to tell you!”
“W-Wait, me?!”
“During my journey, I met Kyaty and Kiara...and I heard this from them!”
Meiru and Lyutillis jumped in surprise. They hadn’t expected Aisha to have a connection to them. Kiara was the only person she’d ever get to talk to once they headed into their labyrinths, and Kyaty had been one of Meiru’s best friends. Lyutillis and Meiru were both very curious about what Aisha had been told, so they leaned forward eagerly.
“Apparently, you have orgies with Oscar-san, Naiz-san, and that big-boobed lady over there every single night?! I don’t think that’s very proper!” Aisha shouted, then dashed away before anyone could respond.
“Th-That’s all a misunderstandiiiiiiiiiiing!” Miledi shouted far too late.
Needless to say, Aisha’s inn grew into a huge hit. It came to be called the Water Sprite Inn...and even though it went bankrupt multiple times over the centuries, it always seemed to bounce back. And no matter the generation, it was always run by someone who was firm in their beliefs. Through it, the legends of the spirits of Ur Lake lived on.
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