33. New Faces

33. New Faces

Once aboard, they chose a vacant seat closest to the front where Via drove. Many eyes begged her to choose a seat next to them, only to be ignored as she slipped by. Frost was not so naïve to not notice that she had become an object of desire.

Scrutiny in a different sense. Or probably just rampant desires. Haah… what a pain.

Thankfully, she had tough skin herself. Being under the scrutiny of thousands of different kinds of eyes was a part of her profession, after all. Though this was different. Wildly different. She was a woman now in a different world that lacked the common sense of modern civilization.

Therefore, she needed to assume that people wouldn’t just be after her healing magic.

Still, admitting it was rather…

… Strange to say the least. It left her mind in a quandary state. She genuinely did not know how to feel about it. But there was disgust. At least that much was obvious.

Nav, can you wipe my memory real quick?

“No. I am not even capable of that. I would have suggested you smash your head against a ridged object, but your head is probably sturdier than most things.”

Frost mentally sighed.

Directly adjacent to the chosen seat was a mother with her daughter. The young girl rocked her legs as a normal child would do. Beside them was a young man who seemed lost in deep thought.

“Do you mind if we take this seat?” Frost kindly asked, snapping the man out of his trance.

“G-Go ahead! Don’t mind us – er, me.” The young man shot wide awake in surprise.

He wore an inconspicuous outfit with a coat that closely resembled an open suit. There was not a hint of protection in the attire he wore, and neither did he have a weapon on him. A leather satchel and the small pendant in his palm was all he had.

“Oh~ The pleasure is ours.” The woman, whose green hair was tied into a long, braided ponytail hummed. “It’s nice seeing such clean faces. Baths are hard to find around these parts.”

She said this while cupping her cheeks. Her voice was oddly melodic, to the point where Frost was convinced that it was the work of magic. She imagined Sirens in popular fiction would have sounded just like her.

“… you’re concerned about baths more than the Anids?” The man chattered nervously.

“You also have a daughter yourself, don’t you?” The woman didn’t need to elaborate any further as Frost and Jury took a seat across them.

“That I do. That… I do. You’re right. The Anids should be the least of my worries.” The man exhaled and tightly clutched the pendant in hand.

Ah… they don’t want to scare the little girl.

Frost caught on as Jury silently gazed at the girl, tilting her head curiously in sync with her.

“Healer and… a knight! I bet you’re a knight, right!?” Her eyes sparkled when she came to this sudden conclusion.

The girl pointed at Jury, baring a vibrant smile that any parent would be proud of.

“It is rude to point, Alice. I’m sorry about her. Please pay her no mind. She’s just excited to finally return home.”

“It’s fine. Children should be free spirited.” Frost smiled before introducing herself. “My name is Frost. And this is my companion, Jury. She doesn’t talk much, so please speak to her through me.”

Although she said this –

“Speak to Frost. Not me. I’m sorry, but don’t speak much at all.” Jury spoke and nodded once.

This surprised Frost in more ways than one. She barely just managed to hide her shock. Not only was her manner of speech fluent, but she seemed to understand the meaning of the words, as well as the context of their conversation.

… Jury, are you genius or something? I know she’s just repeating what I said but man, I didn’t expect her to learn this much already.

“It may have something to do now that she’s an Original. Do not forget that her sudden physical growth was also attributed to it.”

That could be it. But I’m still unconvinced. It’s all speculation at this point.

Whatever it was, there was no doubt that Jury was a sponge for knowledge.

“Hellen~ The pleasure is mine.” The mother hummed.

“Alice!” The girl exclaimed.

“Jury?” Jury ended up saying, not wanting to feel left out.

Eventually, their eyes fell onto the man who absentmindedly gazed afar, as if lost in some distant memory. No one said a word for a good few seconds before the man jolted when he realized he had become the center of attraction.

“Sorry?” He jolted wide awake again.

“Your name?” Frost asked, wondering if he was alright.

“Oh… what was it again? A-Ah, Calfasio. Sorry. I’m just hoping nothing too big happened in Divas Pass.” He deeply sighed before the caravan suddenly shook.

A loud choir of whistles nearly drowned the beat of galloping hooves. The caravan groaned as it was suddenly towed forward by the might of half a dozen horses. A total of 6 horse-driven caravans moved at once in a long line along the highway, rocking rapidly in response to the uneven roads.

“The news only reached us a day ago, didn’t it!?” Via exclaimed, trying to beat out the sound of cranking wheels and rattling wood. “They said a natural disaster struck there 10 days ago! A huge storm and winds swept along! A lot of villages were ruined along the northeast as well, you know!?”

10 days ago… Wait. 10 days ago was when Iscario made it to the Village of Virt. He never used the Relay Sites to reach me, did he? He used a thing called Infusion S.

“Infusion S. The granter of speed at the cost of one’s most important organ. Destruction is usually left in its wake. Frost, it is likely that the destruction of Divas Pass is related to its usage.”

Frost’s eyes sharpened. But this time, she was careful with where she looked.

Was the Village of Virt not the last straw to realize what he was doing? Nav… can people really be that blind?

“You’re asking something that is blind themselves. I don’t understand this notion.”

Frost silently groaned, attempting to waft the thought away in favor of the situation at hand.

“Let’s hope that they are safe and sound.” Frost offered him words of comfort in his trying times. “Hey. Calfasio. Tell me about your daughter. What’s her name?”

“Ah… my daughter. Yeah. She’s… Aha. Her name is Ignis.” The man’s face suddenly brightened at the pleasant memory. “… thank you for asking.”

“Hmm~ How old is she turning? Alice here is about to turn twelve soon.” Hellen chimed in, her motherly intuition sensing Frost’s intentions.

These people seemed… rather normal compared to the others. Perhaps that’s why they were placed here in the safest caravan. Amid the sound of mechanical clambering and their pleasant conversation, Frost drew her eyes to the ceiling and softly smiled.

This is a nice change of pace. Haah… Nav. I think it’s a good time now to fill me in with what the Anids are, because they sound like a short version of arachnids. I’m probably just overthinking it.

“Good assessment. I hope you are not afraid of giant spiders.” Nav simply said, causing her to blankly blink. “Anids are a monstrous race with an appearance not too dissimilar from arachnids. High in intelligence as well.”

Frost’s heart froze solid like it had been plugged into an arctic sea.

… Nav. Please tell me you’re joking. I’m begging you. Give me the punchline already.

But to her dismay –n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I will ask you again, Frost; do the feathers ruffle?”

Her battle with the One Thousand Eyed Bird suddenly felt like a tutorial mission in comparison to the monstrosities that were a race of giant, intelligent spiders.