Log Horizon - Volume 8 - Chapter 4.2

2 
In the morning mist, Touya quietly slipped out of the inn, checked his surroundings, and drew a deep breath. 
The town was still cold, but the pale light of early spring shone down upon it. 
From far away, he heard a series of tiny shouts. People were fishing from boats in the river. When he looked around, he saw a group of People of the Earth walking toward the hills, probably for farmwork. It had been that way in Choushi, too: As a rule, the People of the Earth were very early risers. 
That said, the town wasn’t filled with noisy energy, either. 
Even if it didn’t feel that way to Touya and the other Adventurers, for the People of the Earth, mornings in March were still pretty frigid. They’d used up all their fuel over the winter, so in this season, the People of the Earth tried to maintain constant temperatures in their houses by keeping everything shut up tight. The people out on the streets were trotting instead of walking. Of course, this was because it was early morning; once things warmed up a bit, people would probably be drawn out by the sunlight, flooding the avenue. After all, Saphir was one of the biggest towns in this area. 
Without settling on any particular destination, Touya began to wander around, arms crossed behind his head. 
Rundelhaus, who seemed to have been up until late the night before, had been asleep, and he hadn’t heard a sound from the girls’ room. Touya could have just gone back to sleep, but he hadn’t felt like it, so he’d stolen out of the inn quietly, being careful not to wake the rest. 
Even in Akiba, Touya preferred to spend his time outside, rather than cooped up indoors. On Earth, there would have been a wealth of indoor entertainment, such as WebTV, handheld games, manga, and tablets, but Theldesia was different. In a revolt against his past, when the simple desire to go outside had been selfish, his tendency to want to spend time outdoors had grown even greater. 
Touya sauntered down the wide avenue. 
This avenue was the highway they’d followed to get here. Near the town, there was still ancient asphalt on the ground, so it was solid and tough. It was also wide enough that two carts could pass each other. 
In the old world, this place would have been a built-up urban area, too. Touya remembered Shiroe saying that it was a large city on Suruga Bay. Here in Theldesia, it was one of the larger People of the Earth towns. At this hour, there weren’t any shops open, which meant he couldn’t kill time by looking around in them, but since Touya wanted to walk all alone, it was actually better that way. 
On the outskirts of the town, he greeted some People of the Earth and helped them carry a little cargo. 
He also drew his sword, took a few practice swings, and tried out some stances. 
Time passed slowly in this town, and Touya liked that. Isuzu and the others had spent all their strength on the show, and Minori wanted to gather information. Taking their wishes into account, they were planning to spend at least one more night here. 
Touya had plenty of time, and he used it to enjoy his first solo excursion in a long while. 
He liked having fun and getting noisy with his friends, too, but walking alone like this, as if testing his legs, gave Touya a sense of satisfaction. It didn’t feel bad at all. 
Once it was past noon, people grew more active, and children and housewives hanging out laundry appeared on the short main street. A Person of the Earth who was grilling fish by the roadside gave Touya some, and as he ate, he watched the town at his leisure. 
This wide avenue was made of red clay, and he knew it continued farther west. 
When he’d walked ten minutes west of the town, the streets petered out and the fields grew more numerous. Before long, he came out on a big river. 
“Come to think of it, Choushi was on a river, too,” he said to himself, absently. 
When he wondered why that was, he realized that water would be more plentiful near a river, and that would make it a more convenient place to live and plant fields. He’d also learned the term “alluvial plain” in school. As the river flowed, it created the plain. Hey! In other words, this Saphir town is on an alluvial plain, he thought, and felt like smacking his hands together in recognition. 
One thing he’d learned over several stints of camping was that slopes were startlingly inconvenient. Both camping on them and cooking on them took a whole lot of work. Creating fields would probably be brutal. After all, there was this thing called “gravity,” and as long as everything was acting normally, water wouldn’t flow uphill. If there was a flat area near a river, it was only logical for people to gather there and build a town. 
When Touya had thought that far, he muttered to himself: “School actually comes in handy, huh?” He hadn’t thought there was any point to social studies, but apparently he’d been wrong. 
When he reached the water’s edge, he turned right. That was upstream. 
He had no particular reason. He’d remembered the back of a woman with hair the color of dry grass plumes, and his thoughts had wandered aimlessly. 
The surface of the river was calm. This was probably because the ocean was near, and also because the river was fairly wide. Several small boats floated on it, and fishermen were untangling whitish clumps on their decks. Apparently those were nets. If he strained his eyes, he could see fish jumping, wet and inky black. 
Touya walked along a path that ran by the river. There were pine woods, and he crossed a plank-floored bridge over a thin stream that looked like an irrigation canal. 
Upriver and to the right, he could see Mount Fuji. “Sacred Mount Fuji,” in this world. 
Over half of it was wrapped in a cloak of pure white, and it certainly did look majestic. Since there were no other mountains around to interrupt the view, it was far too beautiful. 
There was a boat shed at the far edge of his vision, with a pier that jutted out over the river. There was a woman out on that pier with her back turned to him, causing Touya to pause. He was starting to think he had a bone to pick with the gods. This had to be some sort of cosmic setup. 

He hadn’t meant to avoid her or hide from her, but he hadn’t been able to call to her for quite a long time. 
“Good morning.” 
“Good morning, Touya.” 
Dariella seemed to have noticed him when he approached the pier; she turned and smiled at him. Even as Touya greeted her, he felt ill at ease. 
When he was with this woman, he often felt that way. 
He stopped knowing what to talk about. 
In the first place, up until now, beautiful women past twenty hadn’t been part of his life. When he thought back to last year, the only women around him had been Minori, their mom, and his homeroom teacher, who was about fifty. Naturally, he’d had some female classmates whose names and faces he remembered, but he didn’t know enough about them to say he’d known them. 
Even in his current life, Minori was his little sister, and Serara and Isuzu were comrades, even if they were slightly older. Since they formed parties with members who were part of the same generation, that was only natural. He went to the West Wind Brigade to study sword fighting, and there were lots of women who made a pet of him there, but since they were just treating him like a kid, that was probably a bit different. 
Tetora didn’t count, of course, and Akatsuki didn’t really seem like an older sister type… Not that he could tell either of them that. 
If he’d had to say, Marielle and Henrietta might be close. They weren’t this type, either, but they were pretty women. Still, no one had ever made him feel as bewildered as Dariella did. 
“Won’t you sit down?” 
“Umm, okay.” 
There were several wooden crates on the pier. They were old, but still sturdy. 
The fishermen probably used them as chairs. They were perfect for casting fishing lines from, but they also had a beautiful view of the Favorwell River, hazy with morning mist. 
Dariella was sitting in an elegant, flowing pose, her knees neatly together. Touya kicked his legs out in front of him and sat down, holding on to the edge of the crate. 
There was a faint, sweet fragrance in the wind. 
Touya couldn’t think of a single thing to talk about, and he sat there feeling uncomfortable. He thought it was odd that even though he’d known full well that he’d feel this way if he sat down beside her, not speaking to her hadn’t been an option. Maybe it was because they’d been traveling together, even if it had only been for a short time, and ignoring her seemed as if it wouldn’t be right. Still, Touya didn’t know whether that was really the only reason. Ignoring this woman was difficult for him, that was all. 
“You’re up early, Touya. Were you out on a walk?” 
“Yeah. I’m not always up early, though. It just sort of happened today.” 
“I see. Mornings are cold at this time of year, but that makes beds all the more heavenly, doesn’t it?” Dariella smiled gently, then giggled at her own sentiments. 
Her soft-looking hair was bound together and spilled across her shoulders, swaying over her cape. 
“Did you go for a morning walk, Dar—um, Miss Dariella?” 
“Yes. I’ve never been able to sleep soundly, so I often spend this time of day outdoors… Provided I’m somewhere that allows that sort of thing.” 
Touya had averted his eyes, feeling uneasy, but Dariella didn’t seem to mind his attitude. She smiled happily and went on, calmly. 
“I live an itinerant life, you see. My job sends me here and there; I see and learn all sorts of things, and then I write about them. When I’m traveling, this time of the morning is precious. After all, I can see and hear lots of things without anyone getting in my way.” 
“Where do you usually live, Miss Dariella?” 
Her velvety words made Touya a little uncomfortable, and he asked his question to block them out. 
“I make my home near… I suppose it would be near Ikoma.” 
“Ikoma?” 
“It’s much farther west than we are now. In the terms you use, it would be beyond Kyoto.” 

“Is that right…” 
Geography he wasn’t used to surfaced vaguely in his mind. 
All Touya knew about it was that he thought Kyoto might be above Osaka on the map, to the right. 
The only thing he knew about where they were now was that it was roughly halfway between Tokyo and Osaka, on the Pacific Ocean side. “Beyond Kyoto” might be about midway between Kyoto and Osaka. As he thought about those general spatial relationships, Touya felt something unexpected. 
In his old world, if you were going by bullet train, it took about three hours to get from Tokyo to Osaka. In this world, it probably took more than ten days. Even if the Half-Gaia Project had shrunk the distances, traveling through dangerous, undeveloped mountains and fields was a lot of hard work. 
Even so, what Touya had felt was that it was also unexpectedly close. 
On this journey, Osaka and Kyoto had seemed much closer than they had in his old world. Closer than in twenty-first-century Japan, with its bullet trains. 
It was probably because Touya knew that they’d journeyed this far on foot, and if they went that far again, they’d be there. Right now, Touya knew how they’d manage to get there, and how hard it would be. He also had the confidence that he could make it happen. 
When he’d gone to that distant city, three hours in a bullet train had seemed like forever, and when he’d arrived, it hadn’t felt real to him somehow. Now he could walk there on his own two feet. 
“Still, I live alone in a little hut in the mountains. It isn’t the sort of place people visit, so when I want to breathe the atmosphere of a town, I go traveling.” 
“Isn’t that kinda dangerous?” 
“I’m used to it. Besides, since Plant Hwyaden began to provide security for the highway, it’s much safer.” 
This was a term he heard often lately—the name of the enormous guild that governed western Japan. Touya had heard it was similar to the Round Table Council. It was an organization based in Osaka, and it supervised lots of Adventurers. 
“That’s the guild in Minami, right?” 
“Yes, that’s right. It’s a band of knights headquartered in Minami, and it protects the peace in Yamato.” 
“They’re knights?” 
“I’ve heard they are a new band of knights that have appeared to maintain order in Yamato, now that the Ancient Knights of Izumo are no longer here. People also say they’re a sign of the transition from the age of the Ancients to the age of the Adventurers. As a matter of fact, Plant Hwyaden has some very impressive achievements to its name.” 
Was that how it looked to the People of the Earth? Thinking that made sense, Touya asked, “What sort of achievements?” 
“First and foremost, they restored order. From Minami westward, damage inflicted by monsters has declined significantly. We think their new machines and river management may make farming easier as well.” 
So they do the same sort of stuff the Roderick Trading Company and Shopping District 8 do, Touya thought. 
“Employment has increased, too. In Minami and elsewhere, the People of the Earth say that there are many more jobs that pay well now, and they’re happy. There is a lot of work that involves looking after the needs of the Adventurers. Minami is a wealthy, lovely town.” 
Touya had heard something of the sort. 
She smiled softly. “It doesn’t interest you, Touya?” 
“No, it does…sort of.” 
He did think he’d like to see a town like that. There was more to the world than just Akiba; this journey had really brought that fact home to him. He’d also learned that traveling suited him even better than he’d expected. He’d thought it might be harder or more boring, but it was fun. If he was with his friends, he thought he’d like to go see it. 
However, visiting that town was the subject of just his curiosity and idle interest. 
He had no intention of heading there now, or of going there with this woman. 
“In that case, Touya, if you get the opportunity, do come to visit me.” 
Touya had turned away from her, and she stroked his head. 
She ran her slim, white fingertips through his hair; it tickled, and Touya grimaced. 
“If you come, I’ll be your guide. Let’s go places together.” 
In response, Touya shrugged. 
“You’ve been avoiding looking at me for a while now.” 
“No, I haven’t.” 
Dariella had sounded as if she was teasing him, and his reply was cross. The moment he said it, he started to feel as if he’d fallen for a trick. She’d seen through his childish rebellion. He knew this, and he felt himself getting very cranky. 
“You don’t hate me, do you, Touya?” 
“I hate when you’re like that.” 
Words have tails on ’em, Touya thought. 
The tails were linked to other words, so when you were talking about something, you had to make sure you knew where the other ends of the tails were. If you didn’t, you’d end up blabbing stuff you hadn’t meant to say. Touya had thought he’d learned that when he was in his wheelchair. All he could think was that, this time, the devil had made him do it. 
Touya felt the tail on his words drag the next words out of him: 
“Because you’re always smiling.” 
Dariella’s expression clouded. 
They’d met by chance, and they’d be parting before long. This wasn’t the sort of thing he should be saying to someone like that. Touya already regretted it. 
“What of it?” 
He hated the way Dariella smiled as if she was trying to gloss things over. 
He couldn’t stand the way she smiled with those black eyes, like monsters’ eyes. 
He hated the gentle attitude, and the way she’d touched his hair. 
“Even if you’re not smiling, your face is weird.” 
And so, when hurtful sorts of words came out of his mouth, even he was taken aback. He must have been far more irritated with this woman, this beauty with hair the color of dried grass, than he’d thought. He felt the sharp words trace the outlines of his own emotions. 
Dariella’s expression grew fainter, as if it had cooled down, and her eyes were just as he’d thought they’d be. They looked as if she’d given up, as if nothing mattered to her anymore. Her lips were drawn into the shape of a crescent moon, but there probably wasn’t anyone who would have considered it a smile. 
There it was: The expression Touya had seen in a mirror, long ago. 
It was terrifying, but it was still better than the just-for-show smile she’d worn up until a moment ago. 
At least this one showed a little of the real Dariella. 
“That one’s better.” 
“Why would you say that?” 
Touya looked away. 
He hadn’t meant to say it, which meant that even he didn’t know why he’d said it. He thought it had probably been chance, or coincidence, or some other dumb reason like that. He just hadn’t liked it, that was all. 
He’d seen the inside of Dariella’s clenched fist, so he’d done something uncalled for. 
“No real reas—” 
Touya started to speak, but broke off. 
He’d spotted something small but clear in the northern sky. An ominous black shadow. 
It was the first sign that an ordeal was bearing down on the town of Saphir.