"Though, truthfully — I hadn't decided what to talk about at all."
The weighted atmosphere of a moment ago dissolved completely, replaced by something almost breezy.
"So I thought I'd simply ask about you. Humans are rare in Marten. If you don't mind telling me — what brings a human adventurer here?"
The Adventurer's Clothes had done their work. Riyuudo had me pegged as an adventurer. I wasn't one, and coming to Marten had been closer to tourism than anything else — I wasn't going to give him the answer he was probably expecting.
"Actually, I'm not an adventurer. I came here from Asteno with a companion."
"Asteno — that would be the village inside Kusteri Forest. I hadn't heard there was a human living there."
I left out the part about coming from another world and kept to the story I'd been using: traveler from a distant land, memory lost. I explained my life in Asteno, and that I'd come to Marten mainly to look around. Riyuudo and Riyo listened with what seemed like genuine interest.
"Is that so. And what do you make of what you've seen — in Asteno, here in Marten?"
"Everything is new to me. I've seen things I'd never imagined before, and it's been wonderful. In Asteno especially—"
Something surfaced in the middle of talking.
Back in my old world, days had blurred together — the same route between home and work, nothing in particular changing. Since coming here, there had been moments of genuine fear. But everything I'd looked at had been new. There was a word for it — something like recovering the curiosity of childhood. Riyuudo and Riyo were part of that today. I was enjoying myself, and I could admit that without any qualification.
When I'd talked myself through it, Riyuudo asked:
"Now — any questions for us?"
There was one thing that had been sitting in the back of my mind since arriving in town.
"The wall around the center of Marten — why is it there?"
Teok hadn't known. Riyuudo might.
He answered without hesitation.
"Marten's history is a history of fighting magic beasts. The area inside that wall was all there was of Marten when the town was first settled."
This whole region had once been overrun with magic beasts. The only way to survive had been to build a wall and live within it. From there, over many years, the surrounding land had been gradually cleared and settled until it became the Marten of today. The wall was a remnant of that era — and still served as a defensive barrier when needed. Other towns that had grown through similar expansion often had the same, he said.
"I see… I didn't know that."
Even for demikind, magic beasts were a deadly threat. War with humans hadn't been the only thing they'd fought — the struggle against magic beasts had been there regardless. Teok and the others had told me a good deal, but the edges of what I didn't know were still vast. I was starting to want to understand this world more than I already did.
"Do you and Riyo live here in Marten?"
"No — this is one of several secondary residences. We travel between various places."
That surprised me. The house was substantial — more than half a manor, really. And that was a secondary residence.
"We're staying in this town for a short while, but we'll move on to the next destination before long."
"Is there something you're looking for?"
It was genuine curiosity, nothing more.
"Something I'm looking for… hm. If I had to say — seeing the world itself, I suppose. An old man's indulgence. Riyo has been kind enough to accompany me."
Riyo responded quietly to her name. "Being with Master is what matters most to me."
So Marten was one stop among many.
"How long have you been traveling?"
"Let me think. I set out not long after the war between demikind and humankind ended, so — perhaps four hundred years, at this point."
Longer than I'd expected.
Four hundred years. Twenty of my lifetimes, spent traveling. An extraordinary way to spend what might be called retirement.
"When the war ended, human culture — and humans themselves — began to find their way gradually into this country. And I found myself genuinely curious about them. About human beings."
He paused for a sip of tea, then continued.
"More than that, I began to think that the world I knew was simply too small. So I decided to travel — the human nation first, then demi nations beyond Dyukou. All of them. It was during that journey that I met Riyo."
He said it with the warmth of something long-settled and often recalled. Riyo sat beside him and listened without speaking.
"My first destination was Rainwillis. The war with Dyukou had ended, and the old conflicts between demikind and humans were fading across the neighboring countries as well — but the feelings hadn't healed, not entirely. At the time I was traveling alone. In the capital, where exchange between the races was well-established, things were manageable, but in the provincial cities a demikind traveling alone still drew real prejudice. Though the same was true in the other direction, of course — humans coming into demi lands faced the same."
Riyo glanced at Riyuudo, quietly.
What followed was a world I had never heard of and never thought to imagine.
Forests where fire trees stood burning, their flames a natural state. A lake encased in crystal. A human town half-destroyed by a Dragon, that had spent nearly a century rebuilding itself back to life. A village on sheer cliffsides where demikind and humans had lived side by side. A mountain with a legend of a sealed catastrophe at its heart.
Each one sounded like a fragment of something vast.
Listening, I thought of the Great Tree Springs in Kusteri Forest. That had been extraordinary enough. And there were places like it — uncountable — scattered through this world.
By the time Riyuudo paused, the light had shifted. The sun was beginning to lean.
"Oh — it's that late already. I've been talking your ear off. Forgive me."
"Not at all. It was fascinating, truly. I'll be honest — it made me want to see it myself."
Riyuudo's face softened.
"Good. I hope you do. Travel carries its dangers, and it isn't all beautiful — but it's worth it."
He glanced at Riyo. They both stood.
"Thank you for indulging this old man."
I stood and bowed. "Thank you for telling me all of it. I enjoyed every word."
Afterward, Riyo showed me the way back to the inn. At the door, she pressed the remaining cookies into my hands as a parting gift. I thanked them both and headed back.
---
"It has been a long time since I saw Master speak with such enjoyment."
Riyuudo considered the observation.
"That young man reminded me of a human I met once, long ago. Something about him made me want to talk."
Riyo looked at him for a moment, and smiled — just slightly.