Dreaming of a Modest Tomorrow
After quite some time had passed since Tyria and I dealt with the monsters near the border...
I finally heard that trains bound for Monastir had resumed operation.
It's fine. I'll have to go back anyway once the Journey is over.
Contrary to what I expected—thinking she would immediately insist on heading to Monastir—Tyria responded more calmly than I anticipated.
More importantly... there's somewhere else I want to go. Thought of it just now.
Thinking she had found another shop she liked, I casually asked where it was. Tyria raised her hand and pointed behind Candle Square.
...Hmm?
The place Tyria led me to was where we had watched the fireworks on our way back on the bike hog.
When we sat on the hill overlooking the higher ground, the cityscape of NOA spread out below us in full view.
I saw it beneath the fireworks that time, but... Even so, it felt strange seeing all of NOA laid out like this at night from here.
So I wondered what it would look like during the day.
I silently followed Tyria's gaze and looked down over NOA.
A long time ago... I almost died because of a certain man.
Because of him, I was barely hanging on... But I still dragged myself all the way to that backwater place, Monastir.
While hiding there and recovering, I swore thousands of times that I would kill him.
And eventually, I finally got my chance for revenge—I saw him again.
...
But the moment I saw him... I realized I didn't have enough hatred left in me to kill him anymore.
While I was hiding there... too much damn time had passed.
...Why are you telling me that all of a sudden?
...
It's just... It reminded me of when you brought soup while I was hospitalized.
...
After you left the ward, I kept staring at the empty bowl for a long time.
That soup you brought me used to be called Condensed Survival Ration Soup.
Back then, the medicinal ingredient Morvel was so rare that it was only issued to combat personnel...
Now that Monastir has gradually become more livable, civilians can easily obtain Morvel too.
Eventually, as people in the Duchy began drinking it whenever they felt worn out, the name changed to the ordinary Morvel Soup it's called today.
...I see. That much time has already passed.
It's similar to what I thought back then, but now it feels clearer.
During that time, maybe the old hatred I couldn't let go of—
Maybe I kept holding onto it like it was some kind of duty.
...?
...I shouldn't have brought that up with someone who wouldn't understand.
Just forget it. Seeing NOA suddenly made me think of it.
Tyria turned her head again to look down over NOA, then cleared her throat awkwardly.
...As if.
You still hate it?
...
Do you remember why I joined the Journey?
To be honest now... I actually joined because that witch threatened me.
She threatened you?
...She said it smiling, though.
It was an offer I couldn't refuse. So it was basically a threat.
...Still, she said that whatever power I gained from completing the Journey would be mine to use however I wished.
I was forced into joining, but I needed something out of it too.
So I thought that once the Journey ended and I gained that power, I'd destroy that man...
And this city that dampens my strength as well. All of it.
So you really meant it when you said you wanted revenge...
Why wouldn't I? NOA has a triple-layered Divine Barrier that weakens me, and it's still noisy and crowded.
The buildings are ugly, the food too greasy, and the people are nothing but a handful of chaff.
No one would blame me if I wiped it all out.
So you still... hate NOA.
A brief wind passed by.
As she brushed back her hair blowing in the wind, Tyria looked down over NOA and pointed toward the bridge at the center of the city.
But yesterday... I was standing on that bridge.
Like you said, you could see NOA more clearly from there.
And the plays at that theater over there... Now that I think about it, they occasionally put on some fairly good ones.
That restaurant is a bit shabby and noisy, but their chicken is good.
And that cafe over there... The black tea was especially nice.
So that means...
Even so, it's still nowhere near as good as Monastir.
...
Tyria turned toward me with a small, self-conscious smile.
...Still, I can't forget those fireworks I saw here.
It's strange, but...
...
I think... I may have grown rather fond of this city.
...Just one year of the Journey has changed me like this, again.
In a way I don't like.
Seeing Tyria smiling as she said that, I started to look for something to say, but instead simply smiled back at her.