T/N: Thank you to all that update the tags in NU! <3
Who is it? Who could it be?
Xion, maybe?
But whenever Xion came home, there had never once been such a suspicious thud.
If it were his own house, he would simply open the door and step inside. There was no reason to make such a noise.
Reinhild glared at the door, every nerve on edge.
Creeeak—
At the sound of the door opening, he shrank back.
Through the widening gap, he glimpsed a silhouette he knew well.
“I’m back, Reinhild.”
“Seriously… it’s just Xion.”
The one who stepped in was indeed Xion.
Reinhild pressed a hand to his racing heart in relief.
“Jump at a lizard, jump at a hero’s shield,” he muttered. For a moment he’d thought that crazy human from the lake had tracked him here.
Sighing from a mix of injured pride at having been frightened and relief at seeing Xion, he hurried over.
Xion naturally slipped an arm around his back.
“Disappointed it was only me?”
“No. I’m glad it’s you, Xion.”
If that late-night visitor had turned out to be the lunatic from the lake or the Hero, he would’ve had to run—empty mana core or not.
“But… what’s that?”
“I caught a monster on the ridge behind the house.”
“A monster?”
The sack Xion carried was tied tight. Nothing inside was visible. Judging by its size, the creature couldn’t have been large.
A goblin, maybe? That must’ve been tough, Reinhild thought.
Goblins were low-tier, but for an ordinary farmer they were a handful.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Xion reached toward him.
Reinhild closed his eyes automatically, expecting the usual “I’m home” kiss.
Instead, Xion slipped something over his neck.
“I was late because I turned a stone from the monster into a necklace. Sorry to keep you waiting, Reinhild.”
Hanging against his chest was a pendant with a crimson stone.
Isn’t that stone a bit heavy for jewelry? It was rough, unpolished. No hole had been drilled, just a thin leather cord wrapped and knotted around it.
Born a Demon King, Reinhild had never once worn such a low-grade accessory.
Still… since it’s the first necklace Xion’s ever given me, maybe it’s a little special…
No. Special, my foot. It was just a rock.
Don’t be dazzled, Reinhild!
“It’s the same lovely red as your eyes,” Xion said.
Yes, lovely red, but did he really think he would…?
“Ah!”
Examining the pendant more closely, Reinhild sucked in his breath.
This wasn’t merely a stone.
It was a mana gem.
A ma-ma-mana gem?!
He nearly screamed.
He had assumed Xion meant he’d sold monster parts and bought a jeweled necklace. Instead, he had slit the monster open and taken the core.
Stunned, Reinhild could not close his mouth.
A gem this size is at least mid-grade.
It’s not something you got out of some blind roadside goblin.
Wide-eyed, he looked up.
Before he could ask, Xion smiled.
“It was a very large monster.”
“How in the world did you kill something that big?”
“It had fallen into one of the pit traps we dig for bears that wander down when it turns cold.”
Must’ve been an incredibly stupid beast.
How can I be this lucky!
Xion had been home less than five minutes, and Reinhild’s spirits soared.
Not only spirits. His mana was refilling at high speed. Energy flooded him.
“I’ll start supper right away. Pork tonight.”
Even better.
Moments ago he’d been limp and listless. Now he was bursting with life.
Being by Xion’s side really is the happiest place!
He swore silently never to leave him.
❖ ❖ ❖
Xion watched Reinhild cradle the mana gem, delighted.
Now he won’t need to go outside to gather mana, he thought. Merely wearing it would aid recovery.
Yesterday, arriving home to find no trace of Reinhild’s presence, how panicked he had been! (It was only that Reinhild’s mana was empty, but he had nearly rushed outside to look for him.)
Every living thing consumes mana just by breathing.
Running out doesn’t kill you outright, but once the heart starts burning stamina to compensate, it gets dangerous.
With no mana, the body devours vast amounts of energy to recover, yet mana still won’t rise. If no other source refills it, both mana and stamina drain fast simply from breathing.
Fatigue sets in then injuries, illness, even depression follow. At worst, collapse or death.
High-fat food had only given a brief respite by replenishing stamina.
So Xion had set out to find a gem worth giving him.
Not every monster contains one. A mana gem forms only when power too great for the body hardens near the heart. Such beasts are fierce.
A mediocre gem won’t do, he’d told himself. He needed a plump, deep-scarlet core packed with centuries of mana.
A creature that carried it would be dangerous, but Xion feared something else.
Time is short. Reinhild might collapse at any moment.
He had run all day, far beyond Root village, and fortunately secured just the gem he wanted, returning by dinnertime.
To Reinhild’s side.
❖ ❖ ❖
One fine day, Rebecca cheerfully prepared to leave work.
“Hey, Rebecca.”
“Oh, hello.” If only that mercenary who always showed up right at closing time would stop pestering her, life would be perfect.
“Any contracts going to Root village today?”
“No, there isn’t a single job for that area.”
“Figures. Poor little town can’t afford even one monster bounty, huh?”
Rebecca wanted to plant her fist in his face, but for the sake of her knuckles she refrained.
“I could tag along and clear out a few beasts for free, you know. How about it?”
“I’m sorry, but our village doesn’t lack bounties because we’re poor—”
KA-THUMP!
She slammed the heavy ledger she’d been stacking onto the desk, then smiled as if to say, Oops, clumsy me.
“It’s because there are no monsters around our village.”
“Come on, not even one?”
“Not a single one.”
“How’s that possible?”
“It is. If monsters existed, our villagers wouldn’t spend their lives farming without ever lifting a sword.”
“No way. Wherever there are mountains and forests, there are monsters. Root’s surrounded by them!”
It hadn’t always been monster-free.
Before Root existed, the area teemed with beasts. There were so many that humans couldn’t settle there. About five hundred years ago, though, every monster vanished overnight. No records explain how.
Slash-and-burn farmers moved in. Root village was born. And in the five centuries since, not one monster has appeared.
Absurd, but true.
“There’re more than a few mountains around Root. You’re telling me not even one creature wandered in all that time?” the mercenary griped.
“At least during my lifetime, not even one,” Rebecca replied.
“Why on earth are there none nearby?”
“Is our village being safe such a problem for you?”
“N-no, that’s not it. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just bizarre. What happened five hundred years ago to wipe them out overnight?”
“Who knows?” She was curious herself, but there was no way to uncover a history never recorded.
“Whoever first settled Root must have wanted to make it the safest place on earth,” she said with a shrug.
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