Early morning.
Thanks to the orderly life I had led in the castle, even though I had fallen asleep quite late, I was able to wake in the early dawn, before the sun had yet risen.
“Haahm, sleep well?”
As I sat blankly on the bed, my head still half-asleep, I heard someone yawn beside me.
“...After what happened yesterday, you look surprisingly lively.”
“Ugh! I only look this way on the outside. In truth, I’m extremely tired. You could call it a side effect of overusing magic yesterday.”
By magic, did she mean what she had used to hold that void frog?
To someone watching from the side, it had only looked as though she was simply gripping the void frog in her hand.
“Creatures that resonate with aether can’t be captured by ordinary means. You absolutely need a mage capable of resonating with aether.”
Had she read the question on my face?
Looking at me, she told me something I had not even asked aloud.
“No matter how sturdy a prison is, if it doesn’t contain aether, it’s useless, you could say. The best way to deal with mystery is with mystery.”
“I see.”
“Mm. Do you think the Empire forcibly conscripts anyone who shows even the seeds of becoming a mage for no reason? In cases like yours, if a noble shows potential as a mage, they’re immediately conscripted to Academia without question. Do you know how much political burden that creates?”
True.
Whether it was an admission letter or a conscription notice, the wording written on that black stationery had been quite chilling.
It had stated that those conscripted to Academia, commoner or noble, had to enroll without fail, and that refusal would result in prosecution by the Supreme Inquisition.
For commoners, the fact that they could enter the Empire’s finest educational institution without any financial cost might feel like a form of welfare, but for nobles—especially nobles who possessed their own domains—their child entering Academia was quite an uncomfortable matter.
If it were a child other than the eldest son, they might even welcome it, but if the one subject to Academia’s conscription were the eldest son, then naturally there would be great friction over the matter of succession.
Ignoring the closed-off culture of the nobility and forcibly conscripting people was, as she said, something that would be a heavy political burden even for a vast nation like the Empire.
Of course, even if the emperor possessed tremendous power and authority within the Empire, it would still be a considerable burden.
In a way, that was proof of just how desperate the Empire was to cultivate mages.
While I was thinking about this and that, we left the room and returned the key at the inn counter.
The person at the counter was not the girl from yesterday, but a middle-aged man who seemed to be her father. He bowed to us and bade us farewell.
Jingle!
Meeeee.
As soon as we opened the inn door, what came into view was an endless flock of sheep.
It seemed that because it was dawn, when few people passed through, the shepherds were moving their flocks.
“Ugh, oh dear. Looks like we have no choice but to wait.”
“It seems the cheese we ate yesterday came from them. It was sheep’s milk cheese, after all.”
“Ah, that was delicious. In the capital, it’s hard to eat food made from sheep, so it was quite the gourmet experience.”
With no other choice, we leaned against the inn entrance and chatted while watching the flock slowly move along. Then, amid the snow-white sheep, a black dog came into view, darting here and there as it moved at high speed.
“Oh, so that’s a sheepdog? It’s my first time seeing one.”
Its glossy black fur contrasted with its cute white face, making it adorable enough that anyone, man or woman, young or old, would find it lovely.
It looked rather like a breed from my previous life called a Border Collie.
Ever since reincarnating, whenever I occasionally saw something resembling an element from Earth in my previous life, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
It gave me a strong sense of déjà vu, as if this place were the Earth where I had once lived.
Of course, that feeling soon faded.
“I suppose its owner must be taking very good care of it. Its fur isn’t patchy anywhere, and above all, it looks very healthy.”
“You can tell with dogs too?”
“My family raised hunting dogs. My father did the actual hunting himself, but tracking prey and retrieving the hunted game were the dogs’ domain. So I’ve been familiar with them since I was young.”
“Ah. Come to think of it, I’ve heard that nobles outside the capital hunt for leisure. When I heard that, I thought they lived much healthier lives than nobles in the capital.”
Pant, pant.
Perhaps the sheepdog had heard us while focusing on herding the sheep into one place, because it suddenly stopped and looked back.
Then, as though a person were smiling, it lifted the corners of its mouth, stuck out its tongue, and greeted us.
“Hello, black dog. Aren’t you cute?”
When the mage waved her hand in greeting at the dog, the dog also pricked up its ears and wagged its tail.
No matter who looked at it, it was clearly a dog that liked people.
“Just look at that. Isn’t it lovely? If only creatures that resonate with aether treated humans so familiarly.”
“I suppose they don’t?”
“Don’t even get me started. Do you think the Empire pours so much effort into training mages for nothing? Most aether-resonating creatures—mystic creatures, for short—are hostile toward humans, or else they ignore us.”
“I see.”
True, the void frog we captured yesterday had also gone berserk and thrashed about as soon as the mage caught it in her hand.
If that void frog had possessed any means of attacking humans, it was fierce enough that it would probably have attacked the moment it was caught.
“Mystic creatures are more dangerous because, unlike ordinary animals with only teeth or claws, you never know what bizarre method they might use to kill a person. Of course, in exchange, they do provide things that ordinary animals cannot.”
After saying that, the mage took something like a small pill from her pocket and tossed it to the black dog that was greeting us.
Whoosh! Snap.
Even though the food had been given by a stranger, the sheepdog opened its mouth and caught it as though accustomed to such things.
Crunch, crack.
Then, like a dog chewing on a chew toy, it used its teeth to gnaw, tear, and savor the thing the mage had thrown.
“What did you give it?”
“Something like a simple nutritional supplement. Looking at it, its shoulder seemed to be hurting a little, so I wanted to treat it.”
“You noticed that dog was in pain from this distance?”
“Mm, yes. I have magic for that.”
She could tell at a glance, just by looking, without even touching the dog and observing its reaction, even though it wasn’t showing any sign of pain?
Did magic put X-rays in your eyes or something?
“If we stay here, that cute dog won’t do the work its owner told it to do, so how about we start moving?”
When she pointed to a spot with her finger, the end of the long procession of sheep, which had seemed as though it would continue forever, began to come into view.
Jingle, jingle!
And at the end of the procession, a shepherd appeared, leaning on a staff with a bell attached to it. He bowed his head to us, as though apologizing for blocking the road while managing the flock.
I likewise bowed my head in return.
At that, the shepherd looked extremely flustered. He hurriedly picked up the black dog, which was still chewing on the pill-like thing the mage had given it, and left.
He looked flustered, as if he were running away before someone could find fault with him.
“How peaceful.”
“...It seems my greeting was unexpected. Everyone I meet seems to look flustered.”
“I don’t know much about life outside the capital, but I do know that it’s very awkward for a noble to bow their head to a commoner. Most nobles would rather die than lower their heads to commoners they consider lowly.”
As I scratched my head, wondering if that was really the case, she took my empty hand and led me down the road.
“Now then, let’s get going. We still have time to spare, but wouldn’t you feel more at ease if we arrived as quickly as possible?”
“I suppose so.”
And so, with the mage holding my arm, I slowly retraced the road we had taken before.
Step, step.
Because it was still early dawn and the sun had yet to rise, we were the only two people walking along the street. Using the sound of our footsteps as music, we left the domain.
The guard stationed midway at the entrance of the domain glanced at us, but perhaps he had received word from the person on duty yesterday, because he said nothing and stepped aside.
Step, step, stop!
How long had we walked like that?
Around morning, when the unseen sun was just peeking over the horizon, we arrived at a clearing surrounded by forest that could hide us from the eyes of others.
“Mm, here we won’t be seen by people.”
“I didn’t ask until now because I thought you must have a method, but how are we going to travel? I don’t think I can travel that far without riding in a carriage.”
“Hoho, we’ll be riding something faster than a carriage, so don’t worry.”
Something faster than a carriage?
Was she planning to pull a car out of that goblin pouch or something?
“Now! It’s about to appear, but don’t scream loudly or move too violently. Its temperament isn’t very good, so you’ll get kicked.”
“...What is it?”
“A mystic creature.”
At my question, she answered briefly and playfully, then took out something like a long white wand from her breast and swung it toward the empty air.
Ah, that looks like the wand from Harry Pott—
“Come forth, messenger of white wings bearing wings of purest white. Carry us to our destination with your steps.”
The incantation? the mage spoke while swinging the wand was more ordinary than I had expected.
It was not a murmur in some incomprehensible ancient language, nor was it some solemn line that might appear in a comic.
It was merely like someone speaking to a friend, with a calm tone and gesture.
However, when she swung the wand, unlike her even tone, a dramatic sight appeared.
Riiiiip.
Following the white wand, the air split open, and within it appeared a world of pure white.
If heaven were given form, would it look like that?
A clear blue sky, a plain of snow-white clouds, and a vivid rainbow hanging in the sky.
From within that scenery, which seemed as though it belonged in heaven, a massive being emerged with light steps.
Prrrrr.
When a white horse appeared, shaking its head as it looked at the mage who had called it, the space she had split vanished as though a wound had been stitched shut, leaving only three beings in the clearing.
She greeted the white horse that was looking at her, then spoke to me, who was standing there with my mouth open.
“Say hello. This is the ‘Celestial Horse’ that will take us to the capital.”
Prrr!
As if the great winged horse could understand the mage’s words, it turned its head and stared at me sullenly.
Its appearance seemed oddly similar to that of a delinquent senior saying, So you’re the little brat I’m supposed to carry?