The angel held a sword in her right hand and the scales in her left. Col found himself smiling at her interpretation.
“The sword means justice, and the scales mean equality. But…it doesn’t quite seem that way, does it?”
It seemed even more so because everyone was working as though something was driving them forward. It was just like being in the middle of a roaring hearth. He had thought he had a thing or two to say about diligence from working in the bathhouse, but his job in Nyohhira was nowhere as trying as this. This was the speed at which the world moved.
He felt like scale deposits from the hot spring water had caked on him after living for ten years in the mountains, and they were slowly being chipped away.
“Ah, Sir Col, is it?”
The building was teeming with people no matter how far they continued in, and a well-dressed merchant called out to him. He wore clothes of a green cloth, dyed from what Col did not know, which gave him the air of a nobleman and signaled that he was the kind of merchant who only participated in major deals. His mustache was also groomed so that the ends bent sharply, like the horns of a bull. The man probably shaped them every morning with egg whites.
“I received your message and came here. I am Tote Col.”
“The chief in the main branch told me to take care of you. I am Stefan, head of this trading house.”
They shook hands, and Stefan, who was certainly twenty-some years older than Col, turned his attention to Myuri, of course.
“And this young lady?”
“Hello. I am traveling with my brother due to certain circumstances. I am Myuri.”
She introduced herself clearly and with a smile as though this was expected. She acted so naturally that Stefan simply seemed to accept it. Such things did happen.
“We have prepared a room for you. Do you mind sharing?”
“Not at all. I hope we don’t cause you too much trouble…”
“Nonsense. You treat us with the utmost respect, Sir Col.”
The elegantly dressed Stefan was treating them with the highest level of etiquette, so Myuri’s eyes widened in surprise. However, the Debau Company was deeply obliged to Lawrence and Holo, so it was just trickling down to Col.
“Is Heir Hyland already here?”
“Yes. Heir Hyland arrived two days ago by boat and has just returned from a meeting with the trade association—”
Stefan was cut off.
Just as he heard the sound of many footsteps coming from even farther in the unloading area from a connecting hallway, people stepped to the side, as though the sea were being parted. The person who appeared was of high status, accompanied by an attendant—his standing was immediately obvious because of the tailoring of his clothes and the air that surrounded him, which were clearly different from everyone else’s. Or perhaps it was the shape of the face that drew even the gazes of men or the bright, eye-catching golden hair that displayed the blood of nobility. One could see why the legend of the golden sheep still existed to this day in the Kingdom of Winfiel.
It was Hyland himself.
“My, Heir Hyland.”
Stefan interrupted himself and saluted, and Hyland stopped the man with the palm of his hand, as though commanding him to stand at ease.
Then, he turned to Col and smiled as if seeing an old friend.
Hurriedly, the boy copied Stefan and lowered his head.
“You seem to be in good spirits, Heir Hyland.”
“And you have not changed, Sage Col.”
Hyland was younger than he was and, with that unique, hoarse voice, deliberately called him “sage.” The title of sage was one of power bestowed by the Church, and most of those who bore it were in universities. He could never imagine himself with such a title, but when Hyland said it, he almost believed it. Stefan and Hyland’s assistant seemed surprised, and he could not help but blush.
“You jest. The title of sage is an awesome one.”
“Then why be so formal?”
Hyland spoke with a teasing grin.
“Col, I am no match for your scholarship, and we will be relying on your skills. However, it is not your job to curry favor with me.”
He had said something similar when they debated at the bathhouse, but while a part of it was Hyland’s honesty, another part of it was perhaps a plea.
When he spoke of currying favor as a job, the courteous Stefan appeared not to know what he was talking about, to an unnatural extent.
“All right. I have always spoken like this, however.”
“Very well.” Hyland smiled a boyish, innocent smile, then continued with a wry one. “And who is this girl? Why is she here?”
“Hiss!”
Myuri poked her head out from behind Col, baring her teeth at Hyland.
“Ha-ha, lively as always. Mr. Stefan, we had sugar and blueberry candies, yes? I want to give her some.”
Stefan had been watching them blankly, but as the master merchant that he was, he immediately nodded politely.
“Then later for supper,” Hyland said, then walked off briskly.
His attendant followed after him, and Col felt as though the heavy air had suddenly lightened.
That must be the noble presence.
“Myuri, do not be so rude.”
Myuri was glaring at Hyland as he exited the building, and when Col spoke, she puffed her cheeks and looked away.
“But I’ll take the candy.”
She grumbled, even more dissatisfied, and Col nudged her in the head, sighing in exasperation.
Their room was on the third floor. It was typically meant for merchants who were visiting the company. There was only one bed, so the boy who brought them there offered to prepare another one, but they could not ask so much. In addition, Myuri was not a bad sleeper, so it did not bother Col terribly. Of course, he also did not see her as a member of the opposite sex.
Therefore, instead of a bed, they asked for a disguise for Myuri.
“Hey, Brother?”
As he reached into his bag and retrieved several worn pens and a heavily annotated copy of the scripture, Myuri called out to him.
“Where are we right now? This is a world map, right?”
Myuri was standing in front of a large diagram hanging on the wall.
The map had been drawn on a single piece of leather, and it was big enough to wrap around Myuri. It was not the parchment of a sheep but probably of one entire young cow.
“We’re around here.”
The southern metropolis, where the pope resided, was in the middle of the map. Using that as a guideline, Atiph would be quite far in the upper left corner.
“Where’s Nyohhira?”
“Up the river from Atiph here.”
He pointed to the edge of the map, under the beard of a decorative sun with a human face.
“Ah-ha-ha. It’s the edge of the world.”
“And yet, people there are leading lives just as active.”
“You traveled a long time ago too, right, Brother? Where was that?”
“Let’s see…,” he answered honestly, but Myuri’s curiosity was endless. A knock at the door interrupted them, so he happily broke off.
“Myuri, stop staring at the map and come change.”
What arrived were the set of boy’s clothes and the sugar and blueberry candies that Hyland mentioned to Stefan.
“Oh, wow!”
Of course, it was not the boy’s clothes that excited her. Her ears and tail popped out so forcefully he could almost hear it, and when she flew forward, he quickly spun her around.
“You may eat after you change.”
There was a fair difference in their heights, so once he held the tray of candies above his head, Myuri could not reach them. She looked at him sadly, but when he shook his head, her expression suddenly became quite cross. With that rapid change in her visage, she snatched the clothes up.
“Sheesh, what a pain…”
Grumbling, she went to change, and as she carele
ssly shucked off her clothes, he of course left the room.
“What? But you always see me in the bath!”
Myuri sounded puzzled, but that was not the problem. He leaned against the door and sighed.
Her mother, Holo, almost never hesitated to show skin, which was of course expected from the embodiment of a wolf.
And so it would be shameful if he protested too much and appeared to have wicked feelings, but upon further consideration, no, she should be a virtuous maiden.
However, when he saw Myuri naked without the clouding steam of Nyohhira, it was a little different than he imagined. At some point, the hard angles on her thin and rather muscular-looking body had begun to disappear. Though she was not quite fully matured, he could probably predict what was to come.
While he was joyful at the thought of how she was properly growing up, he also felt a bit sad for some reason.
“My bashful brother, I’m changed!”
As he waited, absentmindedly eating candy, he heard her rude call from the other side of the door.
When he opened the door and entered the room, a pretty young boy was standing there.
“Eh-heh-heh. What do you think?”
“…I’m shocked. Appearances really are important.”
While the fine make of the clothes certainly had something to do with it, the starched trousers and slim-fitted sleeves, the spotless, thin vest, and the long sash wrapping around her waist made her into the very image of a young boy who took orders beside a great merchant.
“But what should I do about my hair? I guess I can just tie it up like yours, huh?”
Though Col was growing his out because it was too much of a bother to cut it, Myuri’s hair was much longer.
“It may be best to braid it nicely.”
“Okay.”
She brought the chair from under the desk over to where Col was, then reached out and snatched the tray of candy from him. After that, Myuri sat in the chair, her back facing him.
“Mm.”
It was as though she was commanding him to braid her hair. He did not have the energy to be angry.
He retrieved a comb from Myuri’s things and began running it through her hair while she happily stuffed her face with candy. The strands had a strange texture—soft and slightly cool to the touch. There was quite a lot of it, so he set about making two braids and then twisting them together.
“Still…This is all such a pain.”
“What, do you mean the effort required in taking care of you?”
“Nuh-uh!” Myuri said, leaning backward over the chair to look at him upside down. “I mean how I have to hide my ears and tail and how I have to hide that I’m a girl.”
“That’s how the world is. Come now, sit up straight.”
He poked her head, and she obediently fixed her posture. It had been a while since he braided her hair, and it was surprisingly entertaining. She used to always pester him to braid her hair. As he recalled how she had eventually stopped doing that, she spoke up again.
“Hey, Brother?”
“What is it?”
He finished one braid and took hold of the next section of hair. He combed through it again, but Myuri did not continue.
“Is something wrong?” he asked again, and the hand she had been eating candy with stopped moving. She spoke in a tone of voice he could not read.
“Is there a place on that map where I don’t have to hide my ears and tail?”
His hands stopped automatically. He looked up, and before the sitting Myuri was the massive world map. Even a large town like Atiph only occupied one corner of the map, and it was doubtful if Nyohhira was even on it. The world was so big and filled with endless possibilities.
And then, he realized it.
Perhaps that was the very reason Myuri wanted to leave Nyohhira.
“That’s…”
But his words caught in his throat.
Myuri was almost never let out of her room in the bathhouse until she was old enough to know what was going on. When she was, everything but her face was completely wrapped in cloth. Her parents explained to those around her that she was weak and could not handle the steam from the baths, but it was, of course, to hide her ears and tail.
By the time she understood what was what, her mother, Holo, told her about her heritage, the concept of demonic possession, and that if they were found out, they could no longer stay in Nyohhira.
He remembered it like it was yesterday, the day she learned the truth and how she came crying to him with her questions.
“Will no one want to be my friend anymore?”
As someone who dreamed of being a priest, it was clear how he should answer: When you are in pain, when you are sad, when you feel lonely, if you lift your eyes to the sky, you will see your own eternal companion. However, at that time, what he said was something else.
“At the very least, no matter what happens to me, I will always be your friend.”
That day, Myuri learned that the world was a dark, cold place and desperately searched for something to rely on. He sensed that, in order for his words to reach her heart just then, he needed conviction sturdier than any stone. His gut had told him he needed to tell her he believed in her—words that he could speak with full confidence. He could not even speak for her father, Lawrence, much less for a god who had yet to look his way. As long as he was speaking only for himself, it was a solid promise.
Then, Myuri had smiled. “I’m glad,” she said, smiling.
Ever since then, Myuri had accepted her fate, learned how to hide her ears and tail, and lived in Nyohhira as a (questionably) regular girl. He thought she had gotten over it a long time ago, but perhaps it was not so easy.
“That’s…”
His hands that had been braiding her hair were still stopped.
He had a sense that lies and consolation would convey themselves to her through his hands.
More than anything, it would be rude to her to underestimate her as someone who could be easily tricked.
“That might be difficult.”
The world was supported by the Church, as the pope’s throne was in the center of the map. Even in places that respected local legends, it was still a gamble as to whether or not nonhumans would be accepted.
“Myuri, but—”
“It’s okay,” Myuri said, bending back and looking at him again. “Like Mother has Father, I have you. Right?”
Her smile was more mature than it used to be. She was purposely twisting her body in a strange way, and he realized it was her way of being considerate by hiding her seriousness.
“…Right. I’m surprised how well you remember, considering you never listen to what I say.”
Like Col himself and Lawrence, there would always be people who understood. She would be fine as long as she found companions like that.
Myuri closed her eyes and furrowed her brows, baring her teeth at him. Leaning back, she seemed about to fall, and he hurriedly caught her, but apparently she had trusted him to do just that.
Her eyes still closed, Myuri had a relatively calm expression on her face.
“Then it’s all right. We’re always together.”
She opened her eyes, smiling shyly, and sat up straight.
“Come now, Brother, hurry up and braid my hair. I want to see the attractions in town.”
“Attractions? We did not come here for fun, you know,” Col scolded her.
Though her thin shoulders shook in laughter, from behind, Myuri seemed a little lonely. Unlike her mother, Holo, she had not lived for hundreds of years. Though she could catch the biggest of adults off guard in an argument, she was still very much the young girl that she appeared to be. From here on, she would experience many troubles and hardships. He could not protect her from them all, but he wanted to do what he could.
He wove his feelings neatly into Myuri’s hair.
Neither of them could say a word.
They spent the time in silence.
&
nbsp; Once Myuri was done preparing, they went to see Stefan and ask about Our Book of God, but it was just as crowded in front of the office as it had been in the unloading area.
“Brother, what is this?”
A wide variety of individuals stood in front of Stefan’s office in the innermost part of the first floor, from the well-dressed to those clothed not so nicely, and they all wore grave expressions on their faces. Many were accompanied by attendants, and with the chore boys of the Debau Company darting among them taking orders, it was much more congested than necessary.
From what Col could hear from the chatter, it sounded like they had come to make various requests.
“The seasons are about to change, so perhaps everyone is here for their expenses.”
There were people from nearby villages who had come to borrow money to replenish the stock used up during the winter and others from craftsmen associations who wanted to have their purchasing allowance increased. There were also merchants who had traveled a long distance from faraway lands on trading vessels and came offering souvenirs.
Winter had long finished by this time of year in the south, and time was now moving again. The northern towns and villages, where ports and roads would freeze over during the winter, needed to fill their emptied storehouses, too, and prepare for festivals while getting ready to plant seeds for spring.
The seasons changed for everybody, but that did not mean goods were distributed evenly.
And so people gathered at large companies like this in the hopes of gaining even a slight advantage.
“Is everyone here to see him? Such an important person came out to meet you, Brother.”
“Have you reconsidered your opinion of him?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking how Mother and Father helped out in such an amazing place.”
Myuri smiled at him, and he smiled in return.
Several moments later, she said happily, “Don’t be so pouty, Brother.”
In between the exchanges, Col had caught hold of a boy and explained their business. Typically they would wait their turn, but no matter how he figured, nobody was going in order. A group of men, clearly from another country—with cloth wrapped around their heads, gold decorating their necks, and skin darkened from the sun—had just come from the back when they were called into the office.