Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 4 - Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

The Hero, the Dragon, and the Sacrifice

“…Nnh.”

It was morning, and I opened my eyes to the sunbeams streaming through the open window.

Trying to escape from the light that poured over me mercilessly as if to say “wake up, lazy bones,” I rolled over in my sleep and turned my face away.

Sleepiness still clung to my body, and I felt like I could fall once again into a pleasant slumber if I were to close my eyes for just a moment.

“……Nnh?”

However, immediately after I rolled over on the bed, the drowsiness evaporated, and my eyes opened wide, blinking in surprise.

There, as if to spoil my peaceful morning, was a sight that I could not have predicted and did not understand.

“……”

“……”

In the corner of my single bed was a girl. Her short white hair was very beautiful; it looked like if I were to touch it, it would be very soft and smell very nice. She was breathing peacefully in her sleep, looking very tranquil, with the corners of her mouth curved up slightly as if she was having a happy dream.

To put it plainly, Amnesia was in my bed.

Why? Is she? Sleeping with me?

“…Um, what? What happened last night…?”

I sat up in bed, holding my head. I wondered if I had lost the ability to remember anything that happened the previous day, too.

I think that yesterday, after everything that happened, we fell asleep in this inn. How strange. I’m sure this was a two-person room and that there were two beds. But the bed against the opposite wall is empty. The sheets are all messed up, but there’s no one in it. I’m sure she fell asleep in the bed over there, but…

Why is she in my bed?

Well, I don’t remember, and of course, Amnesia can’t remember anything from before she fell asleep, so that means there’s not a single person who can explain this current situation. It’s an unsolvable mystery.

“Um, Amnesia?”

Even so, with a tiny spark of hope, I shook her body. Maybe it’s possible we’ll get lucky and she’ll remember if something happened?

“Nnn.” The unconscious girl punched me.

“……”

“Aan.”

I was stunned, and this time, she launched a kick at me.

“……”

“Uun.”

This time, she flew in with a headbutt. Rather than the nice fragrance of her hair, I tasted blood.

I wonder if there’s something wrong with my nose.

……

It seemed like she was just tossing and turning in her sleep. And that she had traveled from one bed to the other while sleeping.

I see, I see.

“……”

It was morning already.

I decided to wake her. Rather harshly.

“…Um, who am I? Who are you…? And why does my face hurt…?”

As I had done a few moments earlier, the girl who had just woken up squinted in the sunlight and rubbed her cheeks.

Did someone slap you? Poor thing…

“Good morning. You are Amnesia. I am the Ashen Witch, Elaina. I’m your travel companion.”

“Amnesia…? Travel…? …Sorry. I can’t remember anything, but…”

“……” I nodded in understanding. “You suffer from an illness that causes you to lose your memory every day. We don’t really know why. You seem to have been in this condition for at least a year. Here, take a look at this.”

I tossed over her diary, which had been sitting on the desk.

It seemed like she didn’t understand what was happening, but even so, her body must have remembered, because her hands didn’t hesitate to open the diary.

…We’ve spent a week traveling together, but it seems like I’d better start thinking more strategically about the rooms I share with her. When I wake up in the mornings, I’ve seen her sleeping hidden underneath her bed, which makes me think she might have fallen on the floor or something.

That’s pretty intense for tossing and turning, huh?

It wasn’t doing any real damage, so I’ve just let it slide so far, but it’s kind of a problem if she’s sneaking into my bed. From now on, I wonder if I should put her to bed bound in ropes like string-tied ham or something.

“……”

Amnesia flipped through the pages of the diary. “…I see. So we’re in the middle of a journey to the Holy City, Esto?”

“That we are.” I nodded.

It took her remarkably little time to get up to speed. She was probably growing accustomed to waking up without her memory.

“……” She turned the pages, and after a short while, her face began to change colors. “…Wait. Seriously?”

I wonder what’s written in there. She didn’t act like that yesterday morning, so I suppose she’s probably reading her entry from last night.

…I guess there were a lot of things that happened last night…so it’s not impossible that she would have such a reaction.

“As you’ll understand by reading about it, we dealt with a lot yesterday,” I said.

It was so taxing. After all, we did everything and then some.

“……” She closed the diary and stared at me. “…Elaina, um…how was I?” Amnesia asked with a very coquettish look in her eye.

“How were you…? Normal, I guess.”

“N-normal…? Yeah…?”

Something about the way she was acting was strange.

“…?”

“Tell me, since when have we had that kind of relationship…?”

“Huh? Since the day we met, but…”

“Oh, since the day we met…? R-really…? You work quickly…Elaina…”

“What?”

I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.

“…Elaina, are you accustomed to doing things like this?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, well…you know…between two girls…”

I guess she’s talking about traveling together.

“It’s my first time.”

“How can you remain so composed if it’s your first time…? Meanwhile, I was extremely surprised when I read my diary. I mean…my heart is pounding.”

“……”

I’m certain she’s never acted like this in the morning before.

What on earth was written in her diary entry? But, well, I’m sure the anxiety of losing her memory must be driving her a little crazy.

I approached her. “…Come on. Calm down. I’m sure you’re confused about a lot of things, but you’ll definitely get your memory back before too long.”

I planted my hand on her shoulder.

When I did, her shoulders hitched in surprise for a moment.

“……Mm.”

As if she had come to some decision, Amnesia relaxed, slowly closed her eyes, and pursed her lips ever so slightly. For some reason, her face flushed red, and her shoulders trembled a tiny bit, as if she was holding her breath.

“…What are you doing?”

Frankly speaking, I didn’t understand her behavior.

“……You’re not going to kiss me?”

“????????”

Frankly speaking, I didn’t understand the meaning behind her words.

Why would I do that? Is she stupid? Is she an idiot? What’s going on? The two of us don’t even have that kind of relationship, right? How in the world would she come to that conclusion? I have so many questions. I think she might be stupid. What is she thinking? She needs to stop joking around.

“Um……what was written in your diary entry from yesterday?”

“…You want to make me say it out loud? You’re so mean.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“You’re dirty.”

“I said that wasn’t what I meant. What are you talking about?”

“…Ah! Sorry. Maybe I’m the more dominant partner? That’s right. You seem like you’d be the submissive one, if I had to guess. I didn’t pick up on that. I’m sorry, okay?”

“Seriously. Stop it. I’m asking nicely. Hey, don’t get so close. Back away. You don’t want to see me angry.”

“I don’t think I’m very used to this role, but I’ll do my best!”

“Don’t try too hard! Hey, I thought I told you to back away from me. Stop it, please!”

I could not have rejected her any harder.

After that, it took a little bit of time to correct her misunderstanding, but since it unfolded into an exchange that would be embarrassing to watch, I’ll spare you the details.

* * *

“…I see. That’s what’s going on.”

After changing from my pajamas into my usual robe, I got her to show me her diary. By the way, I had changed clothes simply because our time to check out of the inn was coming up shortly—not because something had happened in that blank space up there, or for any other reason. Don’t misunderstand.

I wasn’t particularly in the habit of peeking into other people’s diaries, especially since I expected it would contain entries that had to do with me, since we had been traveling together. I really didn’t want to look, but circumstances are circumstances, and I had no other options.

“……”

I looked over yesterday’s diary entry again.

On the whole, it was embarrassing to look at, so I’ll spare you that, too.

That said, why on earth had something like this…?

“There we go.” I tore the page out.

“Aah!”

Ignoring Amnesia’s sorrowful cry, I balled up the paper and tossed it into the wastebasket.

“Amnesia, I’m going to tell you the truth about what happened yesterday, so please listen carefully, okay?” I stared at her. “First of all, as should be obvious, we do not have that kind of relationship.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So please don’t force yourself to do things like that, okay?”

“…’Kay.”

“……”

Why does she look so disappointed…?

At any rate, in this way, following my own memory, I told her a story.

“By the way, would you untie me now?”

“No.”

We had arrived at this village at almost exactly this time yesterday.

Surrounded by vibrant grassland, the village existed quietly among the flowers swaying in the morning sun and the trees dotting the scene.

When we entered the village, the first thing to meet our eyes was a throng of people.

“…Could it be some kind of festival?” I tilted my head.

“Looks fun, huh? How nice!” Amnesia was strangely excited.

By the way, she was being her normal self that day.

Almost the entire population of the village had gathered into a crowd, so we couldn’t find anyone outside of it, and eventually, we slipped straight into the throng.

The villagers were gathered in a ring, shouting words of encouragement.

“Attaboy!”

“You can do it!”

Their gaze fixed on the center of the circle.

“Raaaaah! I’m gonna do it!”

There stood a single sword stuck fast in a pedestal. The remarkably slim doubled-edged blade didn’t move in the slightest, despite the man trying with all his might to pull it out, straining until his face turned bright red.

It was clear something ceremonial was going on.

“…It’s no good! Your time’s up. Step aside.”

Before long, an older man standing nearby pulled the man away from the sword. “Next! Is there no one who can draw this sword?!”

From within the circle, hands shot into the air, as each man thought he would be the one to do it.

“Hmm…every one of them unsatisfactory…” The older man looked over the circle, assessing the candidates.

And then—

His eyes stopped exactly where Amnesia and I were standing.

“Hmm? Unfamiliar faces. Who could you be?” The man walked toward us.

“I am called the Ashen Witch, Elaina. I am a traveler.” I bowed.

“My name is Amnesia. I am also a traveler.” Amnesia bowed, too. “What kind of festival is this?”

“Oh…travelers, huh…” The old man nodded, deeply interested. “This is no festival, young ladies. This is a ceremony to save our village.”

“By doing what?” I tilted my head questioningly.

“Recently…a flying dragon has begun living near our village. And rather troublingly, it has started demanding we hand over the youngest, most beautiful girls as sacrifices.”

Wow, how cliché.

“But there’s no need to worry. Following the old legends, the villagers have gathered together to pray for the arrival of someone who will at last free the sword from its pedestal and use it to slay the dragon.”

Wow, how cliché.

It was almost as overused as a folk story or fairy tale.

“How about our two visitors? Won’t you give the sword a tug to commemorate your visit? Nothing will happen, of course, but it’ll make a good memory. Oh-hoh-hoh.”

The old man laughed lightheartedly and beckoned us over.

“Elaina, how about it?” Amnesia was pushing me by the elbow, wearing a joking smile.

…Well, I guess it’s fine.

I am a little bit curious anyway.

I quickly agreed and headed toward the pedestal and the sword. “I give this a pull, right?”

I grasped the hilt gently.

Let me see. I wonder if I can get it out. Well, I suppose it’s impossible…

“Okay, here I go!” I tightened my grip on the sword.

“…………Ah.”

But then I realized something.

Oh, this is bad.

It had become crystal clear that if I pulled on the sword as hard as I could, it would slide right out of the pedestal. That meant I would become the village hero and have to slay the dragon.

I glanced around briefly at my surroundings. The happy people didn’t seem to have realized anything unusual about me yet. They were just shouting encouragement, like “You can do it!” and “You’re the cutest girl in the world!”

You’re fine. You haven’t been found out.

“……”

This was when a devil popped into my mind. “Why don’t you go ahead and pretend like you weren’t able to pull it out? Wouldn’t it be a bother to have to slay a dragon and everything?”

I see, I see.

“No, wait,” an angel piped up. “How about you pull out the sword, then pretend like you’re heading off to slay the dragon, and then sell the blade to a pawnshop instead?”

You’re the angel…?

“……”

In the end, I decided the devil’s plan was best.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to pull it out, either.” I put on a foolish smile and returned to the circle, where the old man greeted me cheerfully.

“That’s to be expected, you know. Because for generations, this sword has been immovable by any but the most pure and tenderhearted. Someone so honest that they cannot tell a lie, who always prioritizes others over themselves, an incredible specimen of humanity who cannot even harm a fly.”

Hmm? Don’t tell me you’re picking a fight with me. If someone can’t even kill a bug, how do you expect them to slay a dragon? What’s that even supposed to mean?

“Well, that’s the only person who could save our village from its terrible predicament. You can’t expect travelers from other lands to—”

“Whoops. I pulled it out,” blurted Amnesia, cutting off the old man.

Shlep. The sword slid out pathetically.

Without anyone noticing, she had swapped places with me, and without anyone noticing, she had pulled the sword out of the pedestal.

“…Could this mean I’m a hero? Oh no, I’m blushing!” She was grinning with apparent embarrassment.

Around her, the villagers burst into an eager uproar.

That means…it’s up to this traveling girl to slay the flying dragon.

“……”

“……”

The village chief and I both stared at her with blank expressions.

There was no avoiding it now that Amnesia had been entrusted with slaying the dragon. To that end, we decided to take a detour from our travels and head for the small wayside shrine where the dragon had made its home.

But before that, we had quite a lot of luggage, so we decided to find an inn. This village was not particularly accommodating to travelers. It had only the barest amenities. There was a single inn in the whole village.

“Hello there! You’re looking forward to tonight, are ya? Well, welcome to our inn!”

The employee at the inn gave us a very odd greeting. She was a very beautiful woman. Her name was Lana, and she was apparently the most beautiful girl in the whole village. She told us so herself. She could have stood to be a bit more humble, honestly.

“…Let’s see. Would you happen to be the ones going after the dragon?”

“…That’s, well…yes, that’s true…”

For some reason, Lana had her hand to her cheek, looking bashful. She was blushing. I wished she wouldn’t.

“Noble travelers, thank you so much. This is a rather humble way of showing our gratitude but allow us to provide your lodgings free of charge. Naturally, we invite you to stay in the most expensive room in the inn!”

Her offer was delightful, but I couldn’t help feeling melancholy when thinking of the bothersome feat of dragon slaying that awaited us.

“Seriously? Hooray! Elaina, she said it’s free!”

Amnesia was openly happy, though.

“I know. I can hear.”

I took the key from Lana, sighing all the while, and headed for our room.

“Amazing…! This is a top-class room! Look, Elaina! The bed is so soft and fluffy!”

As might be expected from a room listed as top class, the interior of our room for the night was the picture of luxury. Similar to a room at an inn I had found once in the middle of a forest, the single room was ridiculously spacious, containing both a bed and a sofa, plus a table. Aside from the minimal furniture, there were all sorts of random vases, a casual suit of armor, and mysterious paintings. Why do rich people like to put pointless things in their rooms, I wonder? It’s a mystery.

It was also a mystery why there was only one bed.

What should we do? I suppose one of us can sleep on the couch.

On a table in the center of the luxurious room, looking rather out of place, was a single, brand-new book.

“……”

I opened it.

Inside was the handwriting of all sorts of different people. It read, A long-awaited date with my boyfriend, and Today will be a day I will never forget, and I came with a girl I picked up in town, and I’m here with my teacher, and so on.

……

I see. This seems to be a room meant for couples.

…Why would they have us stay here?

“So we’ll be sleeping together?” Amnesia was sprawled on the bed, patting the space beside her.

“I’m thinking sofa.”

“For both of us?”

“……”

I decided not to touch on her nonsense.

Well, I suppose we ought to think about which one of us is going to sleep in the bed after we come back from slaying the dragon. I postponed that problem and flung my baggage onto the bed.

“Amnesia, you should go with as little baggage as possible.”

“What should I bring?”

“Just the legendary sword or whatever.”

At any rate, I think we’ll be able to deal with the dragon quickly. And come to think of it, if we wrap this up quickly and get moving, we won’t have to worry about who sleeps where tonight.

“Travelers! Please be careful…! I can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for my sake…”

It was right as we were heading out.

Lana was obviously concerned for our welfare and had prepared some sake. She even went as far as to tell us about a suspiciously convenient way of taking down the dragon. “If you get the dragon to drink, it’ll get drunk and you should be able to take it down easily!”

Perhaps it was out of some sense of responsibility. After all, Lana was supposed to have been on her way to the dragon’s lair as a sacrifice by now.

“If you pretend to be me, you should be able to deceive the dragon!” she explained, and loaned me some of her clothes. Along with them, she handed me a letter, telling me, “Please read this right before you confront the dragon.”

“……”

Reluctantly, I changed into Lana’s clothes, and we left the village.

The plan was as follows.

I would go to the dragon’s lair pretending to be Lana and somehow get the dragon to drink the sake. Then Amnesia would somehow fell the drunken dragon. Ideally, we would settle this without any complications… That was the strategy the villagers had thought up.

“Yeah, it’s sure to go well with this plan!”

“……”

I thought it would be faster for me to blast the dragon with magic, but trying to argue with them would have been a real headache, so I stayed quiet.

The wayside shrine where the dragon lived was several hours’ flight by broom from the village. It was surrounded by a stretch of unremarkable grassland, but the arched entrance had its mouth wide open, as if inviting us to come inside.

This place seemed like it had been here a long, long time. The bricks that made up the small shrine were cracked and blackened with the passing years.

It looked totally abandoned.

The whole place seemed more than a little ominous, like something terrible was sure to be lurking deep inside.

“Elaina…if I get into a pinch, help me out with some magic, okay?”

“No.”

“You’re so mean.” Amnesia started crying.

I let it slide. It occurred to me that now must be the right time to read the letter that Lana had left with me.

I opened it.

Lana here.

I knew that.

If you are reading this letter, I suppose that means you’ve reached the dragon’s shrine.

Wasn’t that when you told me to read it? What was with this formal introduction?

However, there’s something I really must discuss with you… Um, the thing is, in truth—

I had made it about that far when Amnesia suddenly dashed off all by herself.

“The dragon’s inside! Get ready!”

“Hang on…! Don’t just go charging in!”

I read the letter while I was chasing after Amnesia.

So what’s become of our strategy? What is this? Have you completely forgotten the plan that the villagers came up with? You dummy.

Amnesia rushed into the shrine.

So did I.

As we pressed forward into the cold, dim shrine, we were confronted with a lonely door.

The moment Amnesia saw it, she gave it a flying kick—“Raaahh!”

She was clearly being driven by a combination of stupidity and bloodlust. I hardly had time to think, trying to keep up with her.

I think playing the hero has her all riled up.

“…Who’s there?”

The space beyond the door was shrouded in darkness.

A ghastly voice came from within the lightless depths.

“Disturbing my slumber—foolish humans. This merits death.”

From the inky blackness came an indication of something crawling.

I couldn’t make out the creature, but it was quite clear that it was angry.

…I don’t think the plan the villagers made is going to work now. There’s no way it’d just happily drink the sake we offered.

“…No helping it, huh.” I threw off Lana’s clothes, revealing my usual robes. I had worn them underneath, suspecting something like this might happen.

I gripped my wand and cast a spell.

It was just a light spell.

The tip of my wand glowed dazzlingly bright, illuminating the darkness.

With that, I could see the rest of the letter Lana had given me.

I don’t want you to kill the dragon. It will fall asleep as soon as it’s drunk on sake, so we want you to bring it back to the village while it’s slumbering.

That is what was written in the rest of the letter.

“…Who are you? Young girls? I thought you were the heroes here to kill me.”

The dopey voice coming from inside the shrine surely belonged to the dragon holed up in there.

But rather than a dragon, the figure that emerged was a young but otherwise totally ordinary human. Just a regular human girl. Really, it would be hard to pick out any way in which she differed from an entirely unremarkable human, but if I had to choose just one thing, it would probably be the wings growing from her back. Oh, or maybe the horns growing from her head. But really, that would be about it. Otherwise, totally normal.

“……”

By the way, there was just a little bit more to the letter Lana had written.

It continued like this:

The dragon is my lover.

……

This “dragon” looks more or less like a regular girl, though.

I ignored Lana’s request to bring the dragon back unconscious. I took her back to the village just as she was, ignoring the enraged villagers altogether, and dragged her before Lana.

“…What’s going on here?”

We conducted our inquiry in the suite where Amnesia and I were staying.

“Huh? What’s going on? I suppose you mean you want to know all the details about my romance with this sweet dragon? Oh-ho-ho!” laughed Lana.

“Well, frankly speaking, that is exactly what I’m asking.”

“It’ll take me a while to tell you that story—”

“Ah, keep it short and sweet.”

“……”

Even with her spirits dampened, Lana told me the story. According to her, she and the dragon had first encountered each other fairly recently.

While taking a walk outside the village, she had come upon the dragon caught in a trap. The dragon had been very weak and on the verge of death. So Lana brought the dragon back to her inn and hid her from the other villagers as she secretly nursed her back to health.

By the way, the trap was one of those serrated blades that clamps down onto a leg. The dragon was obviously not very clever.

Anyway, once she had regained her strength, the dragon had returned to the small shrine where she had made her lair, but apparently—

“…I just couldn’t get this girl out of my mind… In other words…I fell for her,” the dragon testified, blushing.

However, a love affair between a dragon and a human girl would never be permitted by the villagers. So the two of them were forced to date in secret, always on the lookout for prying eyes.

“But you know, eventually I had a thought. I decided I wanted to be with her twenty-four seven. I don’t want to hide our love!” the dragon exclaimed.

That seemed to be the situation.

This time, the dragon had come up with a sort of plan.

“First, I would threaten the village into bringing me the girl, right? And then they would bring her to me. And when they did, what do you think came next? That’s right. Marriage.”

I don’t get it…

Lana seemed to pick up on my expression. “To put it simply, we decided to create the narrative that ‘the dragon threatened the villagers and made them bring it a maiden to eat, but the maiden was so beautiful and kind, the dragon fell for her. Moved by its affection for the girl, the dragon has come to apologize for its poor manners and live together with the humans.’”

I see…? Wait. Do I? I don’t think I understand…

“But that’s not actually the way things went, right? What was the deal with the legendary sword or whatever?” I couldn’t help but feel like that had been a little suspicious.

Lana grew exasperated. “That’s exactly it! That’s the problem! What’s the deal with that sword?! Because of that stupid thing, they wouldn’t just send me out to the shrine!”

According to Lana, the original plan had been for her to go directly to the wayside shrine, and then for the two of them to return to the village at a suitable time of their choosing.

However, in the village was the legendary sword, and due to the well-meaning villagers’ attempts to save Lana, the situation had gotten a little complicated.

“So in the end, we settled on putting the dragon to sleep by getting her drunk on sake.”

“Well, looks like we couldn’t make that plan work, either, though—” Lana let out a sigh.

In other words, their whole scheme had ended in complete failure.

“So can we say you’re in a really bad situation?” Amnesia summarized the conversation perfunctorily.

Well, I guess she isn’t wrong.

“…That’s right. Oh, what do we do…?” Lana clutched her head in her hands.

“Am I going to die here…?” The dragon also lowered her head.

“……” I looked at the two of them silently. Then, after a short pause, I asked, “By the way, Lana. Does this inn have a two-person suite?”

“Huh? Like this one?”

“I’m asking whether you have any rooms with two beds.”

“That’s, well…I do, but…”

“I see.” I nodded.

I assumed quite the air of importance. “If you will transfer us to that other room, I have a good plan—Amnesia’s cooperation is essential, though.”

Amnesia just cocked her head and stared at me. “I don’t see what’s wrong with this room…”

“……”

I forced her to carry out my plan.

When Amnesia and I left the inn, we were greeted by the bitter objections of the villagers.

Just as when they had encircled the pedestal, they formed a ring with us at the center and pelted us with complaints.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

“What’s going on here?!”

“Hurry up and kill the dragon!”

Oh my. Quite angry, aren’t you?

“Please calm down. The dragon is harmless. It will not hurt anyone.”

“What a stupid thing to say! It tried to abduct Lana from the village!” The village chief was scowling at me.

Amnesia was the one who answered the chief. She spoke boldly, holding the legendary sword in one hand. “Think for a minute! She seems like an ordinary girl! Do you honestly believe she could eat people?”

“She must have just taken on a human form!”

“That’s not true! I’m telling you all! She’s just a lonely dragon who honestly never had any intention of eating any humans. The truth is, she just wanted to be friends.”

“How can you say that?!”

“Because we met the dragon and had a proper conversation with her. Unlike you.” Amnesia grinned. It was an unassailable smile that left no room for counterargument.

“…But no, wait…there’s a chance you’re lying—”

“There absolutely isn’t.” Amnesia cut off the village chief’s words. “I mean—I did pull this out of the pedestal.”

Then she held the legendary sword overhead—the sword that, for generations, had been immovable by any but the most pure and tenderhearted. Someone so honest that they could not tell a lie, who always put others before themselves, an incredible specimen of humanity who could not even kill a bug.

Wasn’t this the best proof that she was telling the truth?

…Well, even I, a rotten specimen of humanity who always puts herself first, a liar with an impure mind, was able to pull it out, so I think the legend is fake.

“……”

Using the sword to prove her honesty had been my idea. And of course, these people, who had all believed in the legend enough to try to pull the sword out, were swayed by the words of Amnesia, who had managed this impossible feat.

From the circle of people spilled low groans of astonishment. “…Wow…I see.”

Legend and superstition. To the people of this remote village, they carried tremendous weight.

…Seems like one could find lots of ways to make money using this sword, huh?

At this point in time, the devil in my mind paid another visit. “Wouldn’t it be possible to snatch up everything of monetary value from this village if you got Amnesia to put on a little act?”

You’ve got a point.

“No, wait a minute.” Arriving a little late was another devil. “We can take the valuables, but let’s get the food, too. And while we’re at it, we can take the legendary sword to a pawnshop, heh-heh-heh…”

Um, where’s the angel?

“She died.”

Seriously?

“Elaina.” Amnesia planted a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t do anything bad, okay?”

“……”

The devils hanging around inside my head were purged.

That was how Amnesia succeeded in persuading the villagers and how we got transferred to a room with two beds. By the way, Amnesia returned the sword to the pedestal herself. I suppose it will never be used for dragon slaying again. Because there is no one who could wield it.

And they all lived happily ever after.

That night.

“…Huh? It’s not here. Mm.”

We had moved into the two-person room with two beds.

Amnesia was grumbling over by the bed opposite mine.

“What happened?” I was stretched out on my bed reading a book and glanced over at Amnesia.

“I can’t find my diary…”

“Huh?!” I jumped up. “Did…did you look? On top of the bed? In your jacket? In your bag?”

It was unthinkable to lose something so important.

How could she lose this most vital of objects, which told the story of her travels so far? Did she forget that her diary was important?

I searched for her diary in a panic, but it was nowhere to be found, and the night wore on as we turned everything in the room upside down.

I finally had an idea. “Don’t tell me—could you have left it in the previous room?”

If it wasn’t here, that meant it had to be somewhere else.

“Oh yeah!” Amnesia snapped her fingers and left the room in excitement.

As I was frantically searching my memory, I recalled the dragon and Lana had said something about staying in that luxury suite when we swapped rooms.

Several minutes later—

“……………………………………………………………It’s good.”

Amnesia opened the door.

She had returned with her face so red it looked like it would burn you if you touched it.

“…Did you find your diary?”

“…………Yes.”

“…Did something happen?”

“…………I…saw…nothing.”

“You saw something, huh?”

“…………AAAAAH!”

She crawled into bed, moaning incomprehensibly. “I’m going to bed! Don’t wake me up until I’m asleep!” She wriggled down into her blankets with this nonsensical instruction.

…What on earth were those two doing…?

Well, I’m sure I don’t really want to know…

The diary had been safely retrieved. It was sitting on the table.

“……”

Absorbed in reading my book, I waited for Amnesia’s breathing to grow heavy with sleep. When I say “book,” I guess it’s not one, technically speaking. I was reading a guest book. It contained the accounts of the people who had stayed in this room. It was different from the one I had found in the suite, as the people staying in this room seemed to mostly have been travelers or adventurers who had recorded useful information and interesting stories about neighboring countries. It seemed that every person who had stayed here was kind, for all the information in the guest book was beneficial. On the other hand, a few travelers had written down some rather embarrassing details.

It was a chaotic book. It was full of useful information but reading some of the entries made your skin crawl.

However, there was not a single scrap of information about the Holy City, where Amnesia and I were headed. As expected, information did not leak out so easily about the mysterious city.

……

I took a pen in hand and turned to a brand-new page.

Since whoever read this was likely to suddenly recall our tale sometime, someplace, I decided I had better at least write a story that wasn’t boring. Because boring or useless stories were the most quickly forgotten.

For example, I could probably write an interesting tale about what happened today.

By the time I had finished writing that, Amnesia was breathing deeply in her sleep, and I was growing rather tired, so I wriggled down into my bed.

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep, too.

“Did you enjoy your time last night? Thank you so much for your patronage!”

After saying good-bye to Lana, who gave us her usual strange greeting, we got back to our journey. The dragon had been standing beside her the whole time. They were even holding hands.

…Very intimately.

I mounted my broom, and Amnesia climbed on, clinging to me from behind.

Sitting one behind the other, we headed off toward the Holy City, Esto.

We were propelled onward by the sincere belief that we were growing closer to recovering her memories.

“Hey, what happened to the last page in my diary?” Amnesia said from behind me on the broom. “Oh, someone wrote something here…and it’s…oh…my goodness!”

Well, I think probably either the dragon or Lana had mistaken Amnesia’s diary for the guest book furnished with the room and written in it…

I hadn’t said anything about that to her since she woke up.

“What happened? I’m afraid I have no clue.”

For now, I gave a rather vague answer while chuckling to myself.

“You’re lying! You definitely know something, Elaina!” Amnesia was pushing hard on my back.

Someone’s cranky.

When I glanced at her sideways, she had her cheeks puffed up in anger.

“Well, I know what happened when you went to take your diary back.”

“Tell me, now.”

“Nope.”

“Tell me.”

“Nope.”

We continued on our way, having this silly exchange.

As we flew, I thought that if Amnesia’s memory returned and she visited that village and read my guest book entry…if that were to happen, her face was sure to go bright red once again.