End of March.
The chill of winter had faded into the distance, and full-fledged spring had arrived.
The wind now felt cool rather than cold. The air was neither dry nor humid, making it the perfect time to resume traveling.
Perhaps because of that, the movements of merchant caravans traveling between cities had grown more active as well. Especially in this city, which had a port carrying all sorts of trade goods, it was even more so.
Just a few days ago, one of the largest caravans in the nearby duchy had arrived, making quite a commotion.
And perhaps naturally, the roads connecting city to city were dangerous territories even if I couldn't personally feel it, so there were as many escort requests as there were caravans.
In other words, it was also a time when escort requests for caravans surged, now that spring had just begun.
If it had just been Cassian and Lutina, I would have traveled on foot without worrying about such things, but I couldn't move on foot while taking Illiana along.
Even if I or Cassian carried the luggage, Illiana simply lacked the stamina to walk for such a long time.
For that reason, we accepted an escort request for a caravan departing on the day our house rental period ended.
When we went to inquire, we were told not to joke around since we looked like three children, but after having Cassian demonstrate his magic, everything went smoothly from there.
This is why magic is convenient.
◇
The day of departure.
From early in the morning, we shouldered the bags we had packed the night before and left the house. From the moment we stepped out, it was no longer our home, so we stopped by the leasing office to return the house key.
Next, we headed to the city's southern gate. That was where the caravan's wagons were waiting.
Outside the gate, we could already see workers busily loading cargo in preparation for departure.
It wasn't written in the contract, but there was no reason not to help, so we decided to assist.
By having Cassian do it.
"Why is it me again…… No, well, I don't really mind."
Of course, it wasn't that I intended to make Cassian work for no reason; it just so happened to be good practice for telekinetic magic.
Stone was hard, so it was fine to move it roughly, but boxes made of wooden planks were relatively fragile.
And since we would have to pay for any boxes we actually broke, I didn't forget to drill him on magic control.
As Cassian took out a long silver-gray staff and lifted the boxes into the air to move them, I could feel people's gazes subtly gathering on us.
―――Wow, look at that. Is that magic too?
―――Hey, isn't magic supposed to be like shooting fire and stuff?
―――He still looks like a kid, though.
Cassian was so focused on not breaking the boxes that he didn't notice any of that at all.
"A little more to the side, yeah, right there."
The wooden box floating in the air slowly descended and was carefully placed on the floor of the wagon's cargo bed.
Since they had been stacking them continuously, the inside of the covered cargo bed was already more than half full.
"Good work."
Since we had helped with just about everything we could, I handed Cassian a waterskin. Cassian snatched it as if he had been waiting and drank it down quickly.
"Phew, this is more tiring than I thought."
"It's because you're wasting too much mana. Once you learn to use it more efficiently, you'll be fine."
"I wish it were that easy."
"It wasn't too bad, though. When lifting things, rather than squeezing it out like that……"
As I was giving Cassian tips like that, I began to sense the presence of someone approaching slowly from behind.
Three people.
Their presence drew closer, and soon a voice came from behind us.
"What, I heard there was a mage, but it's just kids?"
"Still, the boy has considerable skill for his age."
When I turned around, a party consisting of two men and one woman was walking slowly toward us.
The tall black-haired man at the front was wearing light armor and had one long and one short sword at his waist, so he appeared to be a swordsman.
The red-haired man following right behind was wearing a long coat reaching above his knees and carrying a wooden staff that would reach his shoulder if measured from the floor, so he appeared to be a mage.
And the short brown-haired woman walking beside them was wearing a long white robe that was miraculously unstained, so she appeared to be a priestess.
To sum it up, they were likely members of an organization called a "guild," which became more common the further south one went on the continent. They seemed to be among those who would be escorting this caravan.
It was an organization that existed because south of the central mountain range on the continent, unlike the north, the land overflowed with monsters.
I had heard through the grapevine that the northern part of the continent had once been much like the south, but due to a rather major incident around five hundred years ago, the monsters had been completely wiped out, so they had fully withdrawn around three hundred years ago.
Perhaps uneasy because strangers were approaching, Illiana tugged lightly on my coat.
As I gently stroked Illiana's head to reassure her, the priestess continued approaching without stopping.
Her face bore a bright smile, as if she were looking at a small animal.
"Wow, you guys are so cute!"
The priestess immediately approached Illiana and tried to pat her head. But when Illiana recoiled in surprise and hid behind me, the priestess changed targets and patted my head.
Then she moved her hand to fiddle with my cheek and even pulled on it.
I accepted all those touches without refusing, my face expressionless.
"……."
To be honest, it was a bit annoying, but perhaps because I had been treated like a child for so long, I didn't feel anything at all. It wasn't like this was the first or second time.
But sure enough, the next words did rub me the wrong way a little.
"Are you following your brother because he's the mage? How adorable~."
Ah.
It wasn't entirely unexpected, since Cassian's height had completely surpassed mine during the winter.
……Even if it wasn't unexpected.
Being treated as the younger sister of a child I had raised since he was practically a newborn gave me an indescribable feeling.
My mouth felt slightly bitter.
If only I were taller by at least one head—no, two heads if possible—I wouldn't have to hear such things.
May eternal suffering befall the one who made this small body the default.
◇
The caravan procession, which only departed after the sun had risen a fair amount, passed over grassy hills and entered a shallow forest.
Though it was called a forest, the trees didn't grow densely, and perhaps because it was a road frequently traveled, the path was made of packed earth.
We guarded the caravan from near the rear of the rattling wagon procession.
There was a bit of space left, so our bags could be put inside the wagon, but there was almost no room for a person. At best, there was enough space for one child to sit somewhat comfortably.
Naturally, that spot became Illiana's. After all, this was the whole reason we had taken the escort request in the first place.
Cassian was disappointed that he couldn't ride in the wagon, but he seemed satisfied that he could walk lightly without carrying a backpack.
Besides, since the procession moved much slower than our usual walking pace, it was no different from a leisurely stroll.
Fortunately, we were able to proceed without any magical beast attacks during the day.
Because around this time, it was quite common for large magical beasts waking from hibernation to launch reckless attacks indiscriminately to satisfy their hunger.
As the sun began to set, the caravan cut down nearby trees and arranged the wagons in a circle, creating a wide space in the center.
Surrounding the space with wagons served as a barricade in case of attacks by magical beasts or bandits.
By the time the afterglow had nearly faded, they had lit several campfires and finished preparing for the night camp in earnest.
Looking around, the party we had briefly spoken with earlier was boiling stew over there, and the other guards were gathered here and there, eating meals and chatting.
Just then, a sudden scream erupted from a campfire in the corner.
"Aaaaack!! Kuaaaaack!!!"
At that sound, most of the people eating stopped and crowded around it. Of course, we went to see what was happening too.
"What's wrong! Say something, Kairon!!"
"Kuaa, my stomach, my stomach!!!"
The black-haired man called Kairon was breaking out in a cold sweat, rolling on the ground and writhing while clutching the dirt.
At that moment, the priestess who had made that rude remark to me earlier stepped forward.
"I'll, I'll do it!"
The priestess immediately knelt and sat before Kairon, clasping her hands and beginning to pray.
Then, a golden light rose faintly from her body, and before long, Kairon's expression, which had been rolling around from stomach pain, immediately became peaceful.
Seeing that, Illiana tugged lightly on my sleeve and asked quietly.
"Teacher…… What is that? The mana just went up to the sky……"
"That's divine magic."
The Holy Council, which could be called the headquarters, called it that, but strictly speaking, it wasn't magic.
Because it was a principle where one offered mana to the Goddess, the chief deity of this world, in exchange for her performing miracles on the ground.
Because attunement with the Goddess was essential, it was a method that required even more talent than regular magic.
But because it could realize miracles that humanity of this era could not reproduce, it was also the reason the Church, which should have perished long ago, still remained.
"Hah, hah…… Th-thank you."
"What happened?"
"The thing is, I went a bit far on reconnaissance and drank some water I scooped from a river I found, and then this happened."
"Rivers can become contaminated around the end of spring. Please be careful."
"Understood, Priestess. Once again, thank you so much!"
During that exchange, I used telekinesis to secretly lift a drop of the water Kairon had drunk and held it in my mouth.
Since I wasn't in pain, it wasn't ordinary poison.
From what I could sense, it was a mana poison that caused just enough pain without killing.
It was definitely not a poison produced by natural contamination, but an artificial one.
Something tasted off.