v3 Chapter 11: Departure

The Plains town that had invited the High Priest was apparently called Kanan. It was three weeks from the Northern Town, avoiding the center and heading towards Iwadou; a town in the western part of the Plains, they said. Within the Plains, it reportedly had relatively hilly terrain, focusing on wheat but also engaging in dairy farming and the like.

“Kanan, Kanan.”

In the dining hall of Gina's inn, Falco repeated the name as if trying to remember something. They were meeting the High Priest here, and then departing directly for the Plains.

“Something about it catches in the corner of my memory.”

“The word 'Kanan'?” Shouko asked. “Or the town itself?”

“Can't say either way.”

He groaned, using his head for a change.

“You really are a foolish boy, Falco,” Gina teased.

“Gina, that's a bit much...” Shouko protested mildly.

When dealing with Gina, even Falco was like this. Shouko found it a little funny and gave a wry smile.

“It's the town where you were born, right? If I recall,” Gina revealed.

“Was it?”

“Well, I think Lyla certainly said something like that. Talk about the Plains is rare, you see. It was when she first brought you here.”

“I don't remember which towns we passed through to get here,” Falco admitted. “Let alone a place I lived until I was three.”

Falco tilted his head, still trying to remember something.

“Was I doing farming too?”

“Foolish boy,” Gina scoffed, “there's no way a three-year-old would do work like that. But wheat fields, cows... don't you remember anything? Like your father?”

“Wheat, cows...”

Falco folded his arms. Gina looked somehow amused. True, there were no wheat fields near the Northern Town, and while there were horses, there were no cows. It was easy to understand the curiosity about what they were like.

“No good,” Falco finally said. “I can't remember anything Plains-like. An image floats up of my young mother smiling, and someone reaching out to me, but they're high up, and I can't quite see their face. Know what I mean?”

“I know.” Shouko nodded. “When I remember my mom from when I was little, it's not her face but her apron and the hand I held that comes to mind. Faces are high up and surprisingly hard to remember, right?”

“Yeah, Shouko. Like that. I wish I'd asked Mom what he looked like.”

“But you at least know the name, right?”

“...”

Falco furrowed his brow and suddenly looked away.

“You don't know...” Shouko realized.

“Yeah, sorry,” Falco mumbled, looking a little dejected. Leon and Haru also looked troubled, unable to say anything.

“Got held up,” Sain announced, opening the door and coming in. “Shall we get going? Hm?” He noticed the mood. “Is something wrong? It's time to depart.”

“Well, rather than 'wrong'...” Leon began, standing up and stretching. “We were just talking about how Kanan, where we're heading, is apparently Falco's birthplace, and then how Falco doesn't know his father's name, and yeah, that's a problem.”

“What, is that all?” The High Priest shrugged with exasperation. “Falco, child of Silas and Lyla. It's properly recorded that way in the church records.”

“Silas... huh...” Falco repeated the name as if confirming it. Shouko turned eyes full of admiration towards the High Priest who could recall parents' names so readily. Meanwhile, hearing this, Haru and Leon started chatting excitedly.

“I wonder what kind of person he is,” Haru mused.

“My guess?” Leon ventured. “Taciturn, unfriendly, no interests outside of work.”

“Hey!” Falco glared coldly at Leon, as if asking, Are you talking about me?

“But maybe so,” Gina added her theory. “He fell for Lyla, right? It seems most likely that a man devoted only to work simply lost his head for a moment.”

“Gina...” Falco managed his second wry smile of the day. Gina really was harsh towards Lyla.

“He kept that hunt-loving Lyla in the Plains for even a few years; I think he's quite something,” Gina offered as faint praise. That still wasn't really a follow-up compliment.

“Right,” Shouko changed the subject. “Now that we know we might meet Falco's father, shall we get going?”

It was so comfortable here, departure kept getting delayed. When Shouko stood up, everyone else stood up too.

“Okay, let's depart on our three-week journey!” Shouko declared.

“O-kay...” Only Haru raised a small hand at Shouko's words, looking down shyly.

“Only Haru understands me,” Shouko said, hugging Haru before Leon could pick her up. “Hehe, okay, let's go!”

“Okay!”

This time, the journey truly began.

During winter in the Northern Forest, Jene and Bival were always along, and neither Shouko nor Haru participated in hunts; even normally, the junior group doesn't join adult hunts. Even when they went to Iwadou last year, Shouko was healing support, and Haru also focused more on healing work, so they didn't participate in the hunt then either.

That's why Shouko was a little surprised when the wagon stopped early and Leon said this:

“Okay, the High Priest will be fine on his own, and...”

“Hey, what happened to the meaning of 'escort'?” Shouko couldn't help retorting.

“I'll be fine,” Sain confirmed himself. “I basically stay by the wagon anyway.”

The High Priest himself says this; the escort really was meaningless, Shouko thought.

“How about the four of us—Shouko, Haru, me, and Falco—go hunting?” Leon proposed.

“Eh?!” Shouko and Haru were stunned, responding in unison.

Technically, the junior group could participate in hunts if older hunters were present. However, although they had received solid basic training, Falco and Leon had always carefully protected Shouko and Haru until now.

“Is it okay?” Shouko asked.

“It's about time,” Falco replied. “I've been thinking about it since the Winged Great Lizard migration last winter. You two are already past the apprentice level. I was thinking that when the opportunity arose, I'd have you participate properly in hunts and train you through actual combat.”

“Falco,” Shouko breathed.

Falco cracked his neck, moving it side to side. “I'm telling you now, it'll be tough.”

“Okay!” Shouko replied, determined.

Through her life in the Northern Town, even though she hated hurting things and lived as a healer, Shouko had come to want to be a healer with the power to fight, like the High Priest. To help people, she herself had to be strong. Like the High Priest who laughed, saying he was fine without escorts. And, as an adult, to be able to protect the townspeople.

It was the same for Haru. Though she had suffered in the Lakes, being cherished and healed in the Northern Town of the Deep Forest, she had naturally come to want to stand on her own as an adult and, this time, be in a position to protect others.

“Alright,” Leon declared, “then let's hunt until evening!”

“Be back by dinner~!” Sain called out after them.

Seen off by the High Priest's laid-back voice, Shouko and Haru set out on their first proper hunt.