Volume Two, Interlude: The Blond Prince, a Summer Tradition, and Ginger Pork
Blade met blade, and the sharp clash of metal rang out through the air.
“Your Highness Cain! A monster, over there—!”
“Yes, I see it!”
I caught the vicious blow that came slashing down diagonally across my body. My sword hand went numb with the shock, and I gritted my teeth so as not to be forced back.
Looming before me was a skeletal horror, a dim flame burning in its eye sockets.
I could not afford to lose here.
This was a large swamp in a country neighboring the Kingdom of Gilberta.
The swamp and the whole region around it had been ravaged by miasma and turned into tainted lands. The small forest, which must once have been lush and green, had been stained black by the miasma seething up from the swamp’s depths, and it gave off an ominous air. We had entered that forest to purify the miasma. When we reached the swamp at its innermost point, a horde of monsters trying to protect the tainted land attacked us.
As one would expect of a swamp, the ground was in terrible condition and treacherously slick. Mud splashed up with every step and spattered my face and body. About an hour into the battle, I was already covered in mud from head to toe.
On top of that, my present opponent was a Skeleton Swordsman, a monster said to be born when miasma possesses the remains of a swordsman who died with his regrets unresolved. It rattled its teeth as it came at me, moving with a fluidity that no creature made only of bone should have had. I struck first, swinging my sword at its neck. There was a dull impact, and the Skeleton Swordsman’s head flew off. But this was where I could not let my guard down, and it was what made these things so troublesome. Unless several points at the core of its body were destroyed, it would never die. So it was not deterred by minor blows and came at me with reckless, all-out attacks.
The headless skeleton swung its sword down at me as though nothing had happened. I shifted my weight and dodged the blade by a hair’s breadth, then drove my sword with all my strength into its midsection.
—Clang!
With a dull sound, the Skeleton Swordsman’s lower body was severed from its upper body. At last, the enemy stopped moving.
“…Haah… haah…”
I steadied my breathing and looked around. The pack of Skeleton Swordsmen that had faced us seemed to have been almost entirely cut down. But that was only a temporary reprieve. The Skeleton Swordsmen themselves were a nuisance, but not particularly strong monsters. The problem was their numbers. I had no idea how many were lurking, but they kept crawling up out of the sodden mud one after another. In this brief respite, I had to recover as much stamina as I could.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and stared at the sword in my hand.
After striking hard bone again and again, the blade was chipped in many places, and my hand, battered by repeated shocks, was beginning to lose feeling. I opened and closed my fingers several times to loosen them while looking toward the center of the swamp.
“—Hiyori! How much longer?!”
Hiyori, the Saint, was kneeling before a vent in the middle of the swamp, the one that kept bubbling out miasma, pouring her purifying power into the ground.
My voice must have reached her, for Hiyori, who had been kneeling with her head bowed, lifted her face sharply.
“Sorry. —Thanks for waiting!”
In the hand of the standing Hiyori was a Sacred Stone, imbued with purifying power and shining dazzlingly bright.
Muttering an incantation under her breath, Hiyori spread a magic circle with herself at its center. The circle had the effect of amplifying purifying power.
The Sacred Stone, infused with purifying power, and the magic circle to amplify it. With those two together, she would purify all the tainted land in this area, along with the miasma lurking deep underground, in one stroke.
Hiyori took a deep breath in and let it out. She was probably nervous, for her complexion was a little pale.
She pressed her lips firmly together and hurled the Sacred Stone in her hand with all her might into the vent, which was still leaking miasma.
“—Purify!”
The instant Hiyori cried out, a tremendous explosion roared from the vent, and a blast of wind raged outward. The merciless gale robbed me of breath, and I shielded my face with my arms. Mud and the remains of the Skeleton Swordsmen, flung by the wind, struck my whole body, and I ached all over. The only thing my ears could hear was the howling wind, and I simply waited for it to subside.
— How much time had passed?
Before I knew it, the blast had died down, and the surroundings were wrapped in silence.
I heard something crumble with a clatter. At first it was a small sound, but it chained from place to place, a clattering that spread on and on. It was the sound of the Skeleton Swordsmen who had been about to crawl out of the swamp, losing their strength and no longer able to hold a human shape, collapsing to the ground as mere bones.
Eventually the sound of crumbling bones faded. Yet the area remained hushed.
That silence, however, was soon shattered.
“Uooooooooooh!”
—The swamp shook with the victory cry of the knights.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
When the purification was over, we returned to a nearby town. At a small inn there, we had water heated for us and washed the mud off our bodies. As I took off my heavy armor and caught my breath, a white-haired old general approached me.
“Your Highness Cain. You have our deepest gratitude for all your efforts in this purification.”
Saying this, the old general bowed deeply to me.
This man was General Mars of the Kingdom of Caldes, a neighboring country of the Kingdom of Gilberta. The veteran who had led the army for many years had the stern air of a seasoned warrior. Yet even General Mars must have been relieved that the purification had ended safely, for the corners of his eyes had softened and his expression was gentle.
But he did not openly show his joy. The country was still in dire straits. Only after restoring the nation, exhausted by the tainted lands, would he finally be able to smile without reservation.
The purification of the tainted lands was going smoothly.
The purification journey to the eastern frontier, at the start of summer, had lasted two full weeks and been extremely harsh. We traveled from tainted land to tainted land, attacked by monsters each time, purifying as we beat them back.
Now, with the castle as our base, we traveled to tainted lands for short periods of five days at most. But the eastern frontier was heavily eroded by miasma, and the country that held it was not wealthy to begin with. We had judged it the most urgent, and so it had become a long journey. The towns we passed through on that journey were all places suffering hardship because of the erosion, and we could get neither a decent meal nor proper rest. It was a grueling trip that would have made even trained soldiers cry out.
Even so, Hiyori never voiced a word of complaint and carried on with the purification quietly and steadily.
Hiyori was a girl summoned from another world. As the Saint, she possessed vast magical power and purifying power, but otherwise she was an utterly ordinary girl. And that girl was throwing herself into a harsh journey for the sake of a world to which she had no ties at all.
We had to answer that girl’s devotion with all our sincerity.
“Your Highness Cain, I have arranged a modest banquet. Would you care to join us this evening?”
General Mars made the offer, but I slowly shook my head.
“I am grateful for the offer, but the Saint and I must return to the castle at once. Some of the soldiers and the knight order will remain here until tomorrow. If you would, I ask that you thank them on my behalf.”
“I see. You are a busy man, and I have troubled you with my consideration. I will see to it that the soldiers who remain are well looked after.”
General Mars creased the corners of his eyes with deep wrinkles and gripped my hand in his large, scarred one.
“I am truly grateful for all of this. Now, the country and its people, worn down by the miasma, can face tomorrow with hope. Truly—thank you.”
They were words of thanks I had heard many times over the course of this journey. I smiled vaguely and took my leave.
—How many people, I wondered, were truly aware that this purification rested on the sacrifice of an innocent girl?
I walked through the inn looking for Hiyori. By now she should have finished getting ready.
I wanted to be back at the castle by tomorrow. For that, we needed to set out as early as possible.
“Where could the Saint be, I wonder?”
My guard knight, Cecil, followed along at a leisurely pace, wearing the same smile he always did. Cecil was the second son of a marquis, a gentle-looking man with cream-colored hair and violet eyes, always smiling. Though he only looked gentle. In truth, like any proper noble, he kept all sorts of things hidden in his belly. He was merciless to enemies, but to me he was a man worth trusting. He was also my childhood friend.
Cecil quickened his step to catch up with me, then peered into my face with a broad grin.
“Ah, we can’t seem to find her, can we? Surely Your Highness’s power of love could do something about that.”
“…What power of love? Fool.”
I couldn’t help sighing, and Cecil chuckled. "Your Highness’s love for the Saint, of course," he teased. I believed I was taking the utmost care that the feelings for Hiyori hidden in my heart should not leak out to anyone, yet it seemed this childhood friend of mine saw straight through them.
“I understand that, given your position, you can’t show it too openly. But thinking costs nothing. Nothing at all. So at least when you’re in front of me, why not be honest?”
I was staring in disbelief at this remark, one hardly fit for the son of a marquis’s house, when Cecil spotted something ahead and called out:
“Your Highness. Over there.”
Following the direction Cecil pointed, I looked into the inn’s courtyard, and there stood Hiyori, chatting with one of her guard knights.
Hiyori had three guard knights, and she seemed to be on good terms with the female knight among them, often chatting with her like this.
Hiyori had not noticed us. They seemed to be caught up in talk of the guard knight’s fiancé. Hiyori pressed the blushing knight for more, her eyes growing wide with surprise now and then, and laughed cheerfully. Her chestnut hair, loosely tied in a braid, swayed lightly each time she laughed. Her ever-changing expressions were so charming that I could not look away.
—Perhaps I do really hold Hiyori in some affection.
From the moment I first saw the summoned Hiyori, she had been in my heart. Always trying her best, with a lovely smile and a natural, unguarded cheerfulness… and when she leaned on her sister, she became more childlike than usual. I wanted to simply be glad to be near her, but the guilt toward her lodged in a corner of my mind would not allow it.
It was this country, and I myself, who sent an ordinary girl as the Saint into dangerous lands and put her on the front lines.
—Oh, no. This isn’t the time to be thinking about this.
I started toward Hiyori to call out to her. Just then, the content of their conversation drifted to my ears, and I stopped in my tracks.
“Lady Hiyori, what kind of man do you like?”
“Me? Hmm… Rather than a particular type, I think it’s more that whoever I fall for is my type. Well, good looks and kindness never hurt, though.”
“I see.”
…Hmm.
I tried recalling my own looks and character.
—…P-Probably, I’m fine. Judging by the opinions of those around me and the reactions of the young ladies, I believe I fare rather well. I let out a relieved breath, and then I heard the guard knight’s voice again.
“Then what about His Highness Cain? You’re always together, and His Highness Cain is so kind and wise. And he’s strikingly handsome, too! Isn’t he exactly your type, Lady Hiyori?”
—Heeeey! Guard knight! What are you asking her!
I was thoroughly shaken. My heart was pounding violently. I wanted to stop it. I wanted to stop it right now. What would I do if Hiyori dismissed me as not her type!?
Yet in my present state, practically eavesdropping, charging out would be awkward. All I could do was wait for Hiyori’s answer, my heart racing.
She responded to the guard knight’s words with "Ehh" and put a hand to her mouth, thinking for a little while. Then, apparently having come up with an answer, she made a strange face and wiggled the fingers of both hands as she said:
“—Just imagine, okay? Say Cain and I were in that kind of relationship, and we were sleeping together in the same bed…”
—H-Hiyori! Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you saying!?
My face grew hot all at once. To think that Hiyori was already thinking about sharing a bed, before our hearts had even been joined!
I pressed a hand to my cheek and tried to cool it, but strange fantasies swirled through my head and showed no sign of cooling. My overly imaginative mind began playing out a fantasy of its own accord.
I wake up before Hiyori and watch her sleeping face. Before I know it, time has flown by, and the hour when we have to get up is drawing near.
I gently shake Hiyori awake. And then the sleepy Hiyori, with that adorable face, says a soft, drowsy "good morning." The sight is so endearing that, savoring my happiness, I give Hiyori a good-morning kiss in the morning sun…
…Guh! Any further is dangerous…!!
Instinctively, I clamped a hand over my nose. Then Cecil laid a hand lightly on my back and spoke in a gentle voice:
“Your Highness, please calm down. Your face is in a state rather unbecoming for the prince of a nation.”
“Ugh… Sorry, Cecil…”
“You’ve always been a closet pervert, after all. Don’t worry, I have plenty of spare handkerchiefs prepared.”
“Let’s have a good long talk about the relationship between lord and retainer later. Cecil.”
Since Cecil and I had been childhood friends, he showed no mercy even to me, a prince.
I snatched the handkerchief he held out and pressed it to my nose. No, of course I was not actually bleeding, but just in case.
As Cecil and I continued our quiet bickering, I heard Hiyori’s voice again.
The illustration’s description: the kiss from Cain’s imagination.
“…Got the picture? So then, I wake up in the morning, right? And when I wake up, Cain’s lying right there next to me?”
“Isn’t that lovely?”
“Well, sure. He’s handsome, after all. But here’s the thing. I grew up in a country where black hair and black eyes are normal, so if a blond, blue-eyed hottie were lying there naked next to me… I’d totally crack up. I’d laugh so hard it would creep you out, first thing in the morning. If he gave me a good-morning kiss in the morning sun, I’d be in serious danger of busting my abs. And then I’d say, ‘What is this, some Western movie?!’”
“Lady Hiyori, what are ‘hotties,’ and what is ‘Western movie’?”
For some reason, the conversation between Hiyori and her guard knight moved on to an explanation of the terms "hottie" and this “Western” thing, and Hiyori said nothing more about her tastes.
—I quietly looked up at the sky. The portion visible from the courtyard was framed like a rectangle, not a cloud in sight. Its brilliant blue stretched endlessly, making for a wonderfully refreshing view.
“Cecil… Do you think black hair would suit me?”
“Hahaha! What a foolish thing to say.”
Cecil’s voice, which instantly cut down my words, sounded somehow pitying. The warmth of the hand he placed on my shoulder was a little annoying, perhaps because it was summer.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
We urged our horses on and at last reached a point half a day from the royal capital. The sun was already about to set by then, so we decided to make camp for the night.
The sun had already hidden its face behind the mountains, and in the meadow, where dusk now held sway, the lively voices of the knights rang out. As for Hiyori and me, we had nothing in particular to do, so we sat on the chairs that had been set out for us and gazed blankly at the blazing campfire, listening to the crackle and pop of the burning wood. Since it was summer, I didn’t feel the cold in particular, but the orange light of the roaring fire was somehow soothing to the heart. The flames, ceaselessly shifting shape, never grew tiresome to watch. Hiyori seemed to feel the same way. She hugged both legs on her chair, staring into the fire, lost in thought.
“Say, Cain.”
Then, as though something had just occurred to her, Hiyori spoke to me.
“Summer nights in another world are quiet, aren’t they?”
At Hiyori’s words, I involuntarily listened to the sounds around us.
The clatter of people getting dinner ready. A man’s voice giving orders. Quiet laughter and idle chatter. The rustle of grass and flowers stirred by the wind.
It was a far cry from the hush of a bedroom before sleep. If anything, one could call it noisy.
“Is it? It seems fairly lively to me…”
“Hmm, that’s not what I meant. My grandma’s house was in the middle of the rice paddies. Rice paddies—um, fields where you grow rice. The paddies were filled with water, and there were lots, I mean tons, of frogs. When it got dark, they’d be drawn to the light and cling all over the window screens, and you’d be like, whoa.”
Hiyori chuckled softly, perhaps recalling the sight.
“And then at night, the frogs would croak so loudly. If you woke up by accident in the middle of the night, it was hard to get back to sleep because of the noise.”
“That’s remarkable.”
I was genuinely impressed. There should be no creature around here that could make such a racket.
“That’s what summer nights in my hometown were like. It was one of those familiar seasonal sights and sounds. —So, ever since I came here, whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, it’s so quiet for summer that it surprises me.”
She was probably thinking of her distant home in another world. Hiyori, smiling as she watched the flames, looked both like someone fondly remembering her hometown and like someone enduring so as not to be overcome by loneliness.
I firmly held back the urge to embrace her. I wanted to share her feelings, her loneliness.
If I could stay close and be a support to her.
Just then, I remembered something.
There was something I could do for Hiyori right now, and it didn’t have to involve simply reaching out and touching her.
I asked Hiyori whether she could spare me some time after dinner.
Crunch, crunch. Pebbles underfoot, we walked along the riverbank near the campsite, Hiyori at my side. Her guard knights followed some distance behind us. The cloudless night sky was bright with the moon, and the river’s surface, lit by its pale blue light, glittered beautifully.
“Wow, a river. It feels so nice!”
Hiyori dipped her hand into the water, clearly delighted.
Perhaps because the day had been hot, the temperature hadn’t dropped even at night, and we were slightly sweaty. The cool river water would surely feel pleasant.
I urged Hiyori to take off her shoes, then pulled off my own hard-to-remove leather travel boots and rolled up my trouser legs. The chill of the stones against my bare feet on the riverbank felt good. Hiyori, now barefoot as well, looked curious, having no idea what we were about to do. I took her hand and stepped into the river.
“Whoa, whoa! I’m going to fall!”
“Be careful.”
It was quite difficult to walk steadily on the riverbed, which was paved with round stones. Supporting Hiyori so she wouldn’t fall, I managed to reach the middle of the river in a few minutes. It was a dry season, and the water was low. Even in the middle, it only came up to below the knee.
“Cain, what are you…”
“Shh, Hiyori. Quiet. …Watch.”
Cutting off Hiyori’s words, I circulated magical power through my body. Then I gathered it in my throat and slowly let it ride on my voice.
—And with a voice filled with magical power, I began to sing toward the sky.
It was an old song of this land, handed down since ancient times, celebrating the arrival of summer and the blessings of the sun that sustained all life. A simple melody, made by the ordinary people who lived here. The same lyrics repeat over and over, a hymn of praise to the spirits. It expressed the belief that all things unfolded under the guidance of the spirits, and offered them heartfelt gratitude.
I sang it resonantly, in a ringing voice.
Hiyori watched me intently, listening to the song. Then, as the song reached its middle, a change began to appear around us.
—Hee hee hee.
—Fu fu fu fu.
Sometimes from far away, sometimes from very close, came the sound of several women’s laughter.
When I looked around, something translucent was flitting about right beside us. At first there had been only one or two, but as the song neared its end they gradually increased, and before I knew it, many of them were drifting about at a distance where I could almost touch them.
—A song. It’s a song!
—What a lovely voice. What a lovely melody.
The translucent beings seemed to like my song. They twirled their small bodies in the air, laughing happily.
They were spirits about the size of a palm. Water spirits, Undines, shaped like bare-breasted women. Drawn by my song, the Undines danced through the air in time with its phrases.
When I finished singing, the Undines all spoke at once.
—Is it over already? No, no!
—More. Sing more!
Undines loved songs, and they loved to sing themselves too. I answered their request and began to sing again. At once, the Undines began to frolic with delight.
—Let’s sing!
Before long, one of the Undines began singing along with me. Others were drawn in after her, one after another, and in a chain reaction the Undines’ singing swelled quickly, until the whole area was wrapped in a grand chorus of spirits.
“Amazing…!”
Hiyori gazed excitedly at the great crowd of spirits.
The spirits’ singing went on. It did not stop even after I stopped singing. The Undines happily joined hands with their neighbors, glowing faintly now and then, spinning round and round as they danced, repeating the same melody over and over as they went.
Watching the spirits flicker on and off, Hiyori murmured softly, "Like fireflies." Perhaps there was a similar sight in her original world.
After a while, several of the spirits began circling around Hiyori. They seemed to confer among themselves, and then drew near as if to take her hand.
The Undines were beautiful and delicate to look at. —Yes, to look at, at least.
Hiyori, enchanted by them, was about to hold out her hand without a trace of suspicion.
“No, Hiyori. If you take an Undine’s hand, you’ll be carried off to the Spirit Realm.”
At my words, Hiyori’s hand twitched. Then she drew the hand, which had lost its destination, to her chest, clutched her clothes, and looked at me in confusion.
“In this region, on summer nights, if you sing at the water’s edge with magical power in your voice, the Undines gather. It must be because there is a water temple nearby. You rarely see it elsewhere.”
This area was a region with deep devotion to the water spirits. Very close by stood a great temple dedicated to them. And this river, into which the temple’s runoff flowed, bore an especially strong presence of Undines.
“Since ancient times, the Undines’ singing has been a comfort on midsummer nights to people unable to sleep for the heat. At the height of summer, the residents come to sing with the spirits, seeking coolness. But spirits are honest about their desires. They try to carry off humans they like into their own realm. That is the frightening side of them. —Yet if you know the proper manners for dealing with spirits and keep to them, spirits are never dangerous. In the case of Undines, it is simply this: do not touch them yourself. Even if you accidentally brush against one when you move, it is fine. As long as you do not touch them intending to, there is no problem.”
—So you can enjoy the Undines’ singing without worry.
At that, Hiyori seemed relieved, and her expression softened.
“This is one of the traditional sights and sounds of summer in this world. …So, how does it compare with those frogs of yours?”
At my words, Hiyori’s eyes went round for a moment. I felt somehow embarrassed and looked away.
…I felt as though I were doing something terribly cheesy. A foolish thought crossed my mind: what if she were appalled?
“—It’s wonderful. Summer nights in another world are filled with singing… so different from frogs! Those things are so loud I sometimes wanted to yell at them. Yeah, this is way better.”
Relieved, I looked back at Hiyori.
Hiyori was gazing at the dancing, singing Undines, entranced. Then she murmured softly that she wished she could show this to her big sister too. I smiled and offered Hiyori a suggestion, a gift for the sister she loved so dearly. When she heard it, her face lit up with a huge smile, and she threw her arms tightly around me.
“That’s amazing…! Thank you!”
And then, with the loveliest expression I had ever seen on her, she looked up at me and said:
“Cain, I’m so grateful. I really, really like you!”
—The instant I heard those words, something in the depths of my chest squeezed tight without mercy… and it hurt terribly.
—The next day.
Having sped our horses along smoothly, we returned to the castle by evening. After giving my father—the King—a brief report, we headed straight for Hiyori’s house in the castle’s central garden.
When Hiyori opened the old sliding door of the entrance and called out a cheerful "I’m home!" her sister Akane came flying from the direction of the kitchen and hugged Hiyori with all her might.
“Welcome back…! Are you hurt? Tired? Hungry?”
“I’m okay! Don’t worry, big sister. But I’m starving!”
Hiyori’s face melted into a blissful smile as she begged Akane for dinner.
“It’s already ready, so go wash your hands.”
Akane’s own cheeks softened at Hiyori’s words. After seeing Hiyori off toward the washroom, she turned around to face us.
“Welcome back, Your Highness Cain, and you too, Cecil! Please, come on in.”
With that, she went back to the kitchen to make preparations.
That left Cecil and me, and Akane’s guard knight, Jade, in the entryway.
Jade bowed and started to follow after Akane, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“—W-What is it, Your Highness Cain?”
“…”
I stared intently at Jade’s hair. This guard knight’s hair color was black.
“—Tch.”
“You clicked your tongue!?”
…I had acted out of character.
“Wow, Your Highness, you are awfully petty.”
Cecil said it in exasperation. I swiftly looked away from Jade.
“It was a moment’s weakness.”
“W-What is this about!? What is…”
“Pay it no mind, Jade.”
Afterward, I deeply regretted having needlessly frightened my subordinate.
When we stepped into the living room, the table was already laden with food. Perhaps it was because we’d sent word ahead before arriving at the castle.
“Sorry to trouble you with preparing food for us as well.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble. If you’re happy with a home-cooked meal, that is. I’m afraid I can’t offer you anything particularly fancy.”
“Big sister! Giiinger poork! It’s ginger pork! The best!”
Before the steaming dishes, Hiyori clicked her chopsticks together in high spirits.
On the plate lay thin slices of meat—pork, I presumed—alongside shredded cabbage. There was also the potato salad that had been in the lunchbox the other day, and wedges of tomato, with a generous dollop of mayonnaise beside them. And there was egg-drop miso soup, and rice.
The sweet, salty, irresistible aroma rising from the food filled the whole room. I was quite hungry myself, though not as much as Hiyori, and my heart leapt with anticipation at the delicious-looking meal before me.
“Well then, shall we eat? Itadakimasu!”
“Itadakimasu!”
Hiyori gave her cheerful greeting, opened her mouth wide, and bit into the meat.
“Mmm… Meat! So good! I’m so happy!”
After the meat, Hiyori stuffed her cheeks with white rice, and she looked just as happy as she said.
I took up my own chopsticks and lifted a piece of meat. It was thin, yet as large as the palm of my hand. The brown sauce coating it dripped down drop by drop, and the distinctive aroma, probably of ginger, whetted my appetite.
When I took a bite, it was astonishingly tender. A savory fragrance—ah, this was the soy sauce flavor that was a staple of Akane’s home cooking. Combined with the ginger, it was a taste that would surely go well with white rice.
My chopsticks naturally reached for the rice. Freshly cooked, no doubt, the pure white, glossy rice was surprisingly hot, and I let it cool in my mouth, huffing, before I tasted it. At one bite, the sweetness of the rice spread instantly. It tempered the strong flavors of ginger and soy sauce. This rice, though it was not seasoned in any way, never failed to astonish me with its sweetness and sticky texture every time I ate it. The strong flavor of the ginger pork was delicious in its own right, but at times it tasted a little too salty. At such moments, eating the rice made it just right, which was a marvel.
Glancing at Hiyori, I saw her rolling shredded cabbage in the ginger pork and eating it. I decided to imitate her at once and reached out with my chopsticks. Not as skilled with chopsticks as Hiyori and her sister, I struggled to wrap the cabbage in the meat. Relieved to finally be able to eat it, I bit into the meat.
—Juicy, and crunchy!
The moment I bit into the meat, the sauce clinging to it seeped out. And there was the crisp texture of the cabbage. The fresh cabbage, with a gentleness different from the rice’s, let me taste the strong flavor of the meat in a refreshing way.
—This is good.
If anything, wrapping it in cabbage was more to my taste. With that thought, I reached for the miso soup next. It was a simple miso soup with nothing more than beaten egg and green onion. The fluffy yolk and the soft, half-set white blended together and mellowed the saltiness of the miso. It was just right for a tongue wearied by the strong flavors of the ginger pork.
—Haa… I let out a breath of relief.
I must have been tense during the journey after all. With every bite of Akane’s cooking, I could feel the tension easing from my body. As I ate, I could not stop my cheeks from relaxing. I understood well how Hiyori had felt when she burst into tears and said she wanted Akane’s cooking. It was a taste that made one feel at ease, a taste that made one want to come home.
“Ah, Lady Akane’s cooking, after so long, really sinks in…”
“Indeed.”
Cecil and I were basking in the warmth of it when Hiyori suddenly closed in on us with a stern face.
“Cain! Hey, you haven’t touched the mayonnaise!”
Thinking I had committed some blunder, I panicked, but Hiyori pointed seriously at the mayonnaise on the plate.
“What kind of man doesn’t eat mayonnaise?! Here! Pile loads of mayonnaise on the ginger pork! Now, eat!”
“Huh? Oh…”
I did as Hiyori instructed and put some mayonnaise on the meat.
“You too, Cecil! Come on, come on, come on!”
“Hmm? Me too?”
Pressed by Hiyori, Cecil reluctantly put mayonnaise on his ginger pork as well.
I had eaten mayonnaise itself several times at meals in this house, so it was nothing unusual. Could this really change anything?
I put the mayonnaise-whitened meat into my mouth and bit down hard. At that moment—
“Uh… d-delicious!”
“Wha…! Whaaat?”
I was so astonished that I couldn’t help shouting.
Cecil too stared at the ginger pork in front of him with wide eyes.
The sweet-and-salty sauce of soy and ginger, its strong flavor wrapped in the mayonnaise’s smooth richness and tang, yielded a mellow taste just on the edge of being heavy. Before that taste could fade, I bit into some white rice. A wave of happiness slowly welled up from deep inside me.
—My body was saying it.
—For a young body, flavors this rich are just right, aren’t they?
I take it back. This was unquestionably the best way to eat it. Wrapping it in cabbage was not even worth comparing.
“Akane! Seconds!”
“Your Highness, you’re eating too much. If you eat that much, you’ll get fat, and your dignity as a prince will…”
“You say that, yet you are holding your plate out to Akane too!”
“Heh. You caught me. As expected of you, Your Highness! Such keen eyes!”
“You are actually making a fool of me, aren’t you?!”
“Oh no, you’re both getting seconds!? Me too! Me too!”
Another serving of meat arrived on my plate. I swallowed hard, piled on a generous amount of mayonnaise, and eagerly alternated between stuffing my mouth with meat and rice. In the end, I had two more servings of both meat and rice before I finally felt satisfied. I stretched my legs out on the tatami and rubbed my painfully full stomach. How long had it been since I’d eaten with such enthusiasm? Before I knew it, Hiyori was lying down on the sofa, while Cecil had collapsed face-first onto the table, groaning, "Ugh…" He must have eaten too much.
“All three of you, you ate too much…”
Akane’s exasperated voice came. Somewhere in my head, I understood that she was right.
Yet this was fine. My heart was, without a doubt, full of satisfaction.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
Leaving the cleanup after dinner to the two guard knights, Jade and Cecil, Hiyori took the bewildered Akane by the hand and led her out onto the veranda. The sun had already set, and it was pitch dark all around. Apart from the great moon and countless twinkling stars, all that could be seen was the flicker of the bonfires burning far off atop the castle walls.
“W-What is it, Hiyori?”
“I’ve got a souvenir for you, big sister!”
She poured the contents of a bottle into a washbasin she had prepared in advance. What was in the bottle was the water from that river.
Then, with a light ahem, Hiyori cradled the basin in her arms and had Akane sit on the veranda.
When Hiyori bowed formally, Akane, seated there with no explanation at all, applauded for the time being with a few puzzled claps.
Then Hiyori drew a deep breath and slowly began to sing.
It was the hymn of praise to the spirits that I had sung on the riverbank the night before. The song Hiyori had practiced so diligently on the road back to the castle.
As the song moved through its first verse, then its second, the surface of the water in the basin began to stir. As one would expect of a Saint, the amount of magical power in her voice was in a different league from mine. The spirits were responding far faster than they had when I sang.
Normally, Undines rarely appeared unless someone sang at that particular spot, beside that particular river. But if we drew water from that river and, before much time had passed, recreated the conditions with a greater amount of magical power, it was possible to summon the song-loving Undines who had developed a taste for the joy of my singing.
The illustration’s description: Hiyori with a basin in hands, Akane sitting on the veranda, and Undines.
At last, Undines emerged from the basin in Hiyori’s arms. They glowed faintly as they spun about, drifting back and forth between Hiyori and Akane.
Naturally, not as many appeared as had at the river. Even so, once the Undines began singing along with Hiyori’s voice, their song grew to an overwhelming volume and was so beautiful that one could not help but listen.
Akane was taken aback for a moment, but as soon as she saw Hiyori’s triumphant "gotcha" face, she smiled happily. That smile was the very image of Hiyori’s, and I felt once more that they were truly sisters.
When she finished singing, Hiyori sat down beside Akane. Just as at the river, the Undines did not stop singing even after Hiyori had finished.
“Amazing, right, big sister?! They say this is a traditional summer sight here in this world!”
“Yeah. It really is amazing.”
For a while, the two of them were entranced by the Undines dancing and twinkling. I sat down beside them as well and listened to the Undines’ singing. The Undines sang until they were satisfied, and those who tired of singing vanished into the sky. As I listened to the song gradually growing fainter, Hiyori and Akane began to talk.
“So this is what summer is like here… It’s nothing like back in our world.”
“It’s so romantic! Back in our world, summer means cicadas, wind chimes, shaved ice… watermelon on the veranda! Going to the pool or the beach! Fireworks and festival stalls! What else is there, big sister?”
“That pretty much covers everything, I think.”
“No good… we lose on romance. Maybe fireworks can barely compete. Another world is terrifying.”
“It’s pretty comfortable here, though. No cicadas, so it’s quiet in the daytime. And there aren’t many mosquitoes.”
“And best of all, it’s not muggy here!”
“Being freed from that steaming hell… not needing an air conditioner at night is a miracle by itself… Summer in another world… you can’t underestimate it.”
“You’re right…”
When the conversation lapsed, the two slowly looked at each other.
Then, with identical smiles, they spoke in unison.
““Summer in another world is the best, isn’t it?””
And the two of them burst out laughing together.
Once she had laughed her fill, Hiyori suddenly turned toward me.
“Hey, Cain, don’t you think so too?”
Hiyori’s expression at that moment was bright and clear, and I could tell she truly meant it.
I was captivated by that expression and caught my breath. My chest grew hot, and a feeling welled up inside me. Unable to keep looking at Hiyori’s face, I gave a vague "Yeah" or "Ah" in reply and pretended to watch the Undines drifting through the sky.
“—Hey. What’s wrong, Cain?”
Hiyori looked my way and let out a surprised cry. I hadn’t realized it, but one tear had already fallen from my eye. I thought I had covered it up, but apparently she had seen.
I rubbed my face with the back of my hand, smiled, and said to Hiyori:
“No. It’s nothing.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Undines’ singing is unusually beautiful today… That must be why.”
With that, I turned my eyes back to the night sky where the spirits danced.
Hiyori did not seem convinced by my words, but she was considerate enough not to press further.
The Undines dwindled one by one. With a pop, like a bursting bubble, one vanished right before my eyes. The song, growing ever fainter, carried a touch of loneliness.
As the twinkling Undines grew fewer, the light of the stars spread across the whole sky naturally came into view. To me it was a familiar, everyday sight. Yet Hiyori and her sister exclaimed that even this was beautiful.
—I sniffled.
I decided I would stay until the very last Undine finished singing. For some reason, that was what I thought at that moment.
