< Gravel >
The streets of the noble quarters in Ves-Dinas. Streets lined with mana stone lamps shining brighter under the tallest walls in the city. At some point, a saying began circulating that it was the duty of a noble to illuminate the streets around their mansion for the convenience of passersby and to place long benches for resting. This led to a period of competition among the nobles of the Noble Quarters, who held high status and great wealth, to make their streets even brighter.
The excessive competition for power and wealth made the streets of the Noble Quarters brighter at night, with rows of densely packed mana stone lamps, than during the day when the sun was out. It was only after a decree from the lord's authority halted such excessive rivalry that the streets returned to their original state, moderately lit by mana stone lamps.
"The sun is already setting. Still no sign of leaving the house..."
From a tree on a mountain outside the city, far enough that the mana stone lamps lighting up one by one around looked like small stars floating in the sky, Gravel watched.
One day, assisting Scholar Lindi in cartographic work at the Ves-Dinas library and fulfilling an alchemist's request by gathering Doop tree bark from Jajat Mountain, Gravel began guarding Sallin Orid, whom Ratak had asked to protect from an assassin's threat.
Since Ratak had requested that the protection remain unnoticed by the target, Gravel was keeping watch over Sallin's mansion from a distance.
It was a rare moment of leisure. Ever since arriving in this other world, Gravel had been using flight spells centered around Ves-Dinas whenever time allowed, spreading mana widely to search for the unclear location of Skyhold. This current time, serving as both rest and a chance to recover insufficient mana, felt truly appreciated.
'Still, I've grown accustomed to operating the mana vein, so compared to before, I can fly several times faster and longer...'
Closing eyes and taking a deep breath, Gravel began concentrating fully on drawing in the surrounding mana. Even so, the mana enveloping the body was spread widely toward the mansion where Sallin stayed, covering the entire estate to monitor for any threatening presences approaching.
The applied technique of mana convolve, which holds in the mana radiated outward from the body as much as possible—without compressing it, but spreading it thinly and widely—Gravel named it mana expansion. This skill allowed detection of everything within its range.
The shape of a falling leaf, the movement of a small insect crawling on the ground—if within the spread mana's range, it could be sensed. Without relying on vision, the spherically expanded mana captured everything in the area without blind spots.
Gravel's mana expansion, refined in the search for Skyhold, had reached a level where it could envelop all of Ves-Dinas in spread mana.
'Still, not a single clue about Skyhold...'
The lack of results from the searches so far furrowed the brows between the closed eyes gathering mana.
Then, following the mana gathering around Gravel, a thin and weak breeze blew sharply for a moment, brushing past Gravel's cheek.
'Don't rush... Focus on what can be done now.'
Shaking off the agitation from impatience, a gentle westerly wind began blowing around Gravel once more.
Lately, after sword training ended, following Nia around the taverns in Ves-Dinas and eating a lot had led Iris to complain with a sullen expression about seeming to have gained weight. Recalling that brought a brighter smile to Gravel's lips. Then, with another long exhale, Gravel began recalling the memory from two days ago when first seeing Sallin Orid.
The first day.
Sallin, who rose late and left the mansion, walked toward the Old Quarter.
With half-closed eyes, yawning repeatedly while walking, the destination was a tavern with a signboard featuring a goat drawing instead of a name.
Exchanging greetings suitable for a late autumn afternoon with unfamiliar faces, and warm smiles mixed with playful banter with familiar ones.
Occasionally showing a face tormented by hangover, but Sallin and the gathered patrons at the tavern drank herbal tea served by the owner, along with broth simmered from meat and bones, and egg dishes. Then, Sallin left the tavern and walked again, heading toward the city's outskirts.
After walking for a while, the place Sallin arrived at was in front of a small circular arena. Around the arena, there were parked carriages, and the stone pillars for tying horse reins had no empty rings, with so many horses standing. From the temporary kitchen under a tent, sounds of chopping ingredients on cutting boards echoed, and a wild boar skewered on a long iron spit was being rotated and roasted.
Passing through the laughter of people, music sounds, and the pleasant aroma of cooking, Sallin entered the circular arena, followed by Gravel. Inside the arena, the heat from the dueling matches was rising.
As Gravel settled in a corner of the arena, watching the seat where Sallin sat, a familiar voice from the center of the arena drew Gravel's gaze to the sand-covered arena in the middle. There, Nia stood facing off against an opponent.
The match ended quickly with Nia's victory. Gliding across the arena sand, kicking up dust, Nia's single strike made the opponent drop the held weapon onto the sand and collapse to the ground.
Cheers from the spectators erupted, and Sallin, who had been cheering, laughed loudly and called out Nia's name, as if Nia had been the one supported.
After the short match ended, soon Sallin and Nia were joined by the late-arriving Reave and Kein, and even later by Leben, gathering at a small tavern in a corner of the Old Quarter to enjoy a small banquet celebrating Nia's victory.
Thus, Gravel's day of tailing Sallin's day came to an end.
The second day.
The next day, unlike the previous, Sallin's day started early.
From early morning, riding a horse out beyond the city's walls, Sallin released a small falcon that had flown in and perched on the shoulder to hunt.
After cleaning the caught quail to feed the falcon fully, and eating the quail the falcon had caught as well, Sallin headed to the jousting arena.
Upon arriving at the arena, Sallin sat in the ordinary spectator seats instead of the wide, luxurious chairs for nobles, watching the matches.
Watching the lances shatter and scatter fragments, and the two knights charging across the arena, Sallin cheered along with the other spectators in the arena, a sight Gravel observed for a while.
As time passed, by the time watching the two knights in the day's final match, it was already dark with the sun set, so the arena was lit by brightly shining mana stone lamps.
After the match ended, the inevitable banquet followed.
Unlike the small banquet celebrating Nia's victory the day before, this was a banquet with all the knights who had competed that day. Following Sallin, who laughed merrily while mounted on horseback, knights with different crests headed toward the new town outside the walls.
Gathering in a tavern with a wide hall and long tables, they shared stories of each other's valor and the thrilling moments of clashing on horseback. There was no loser's frustration, anger, or disappointment, nor any winner's superiority or excessive arrogance.
The banquet that day, giving cheers and greater courage to the victorious knights, and strength to rise and move forward to those who had to pause and vow for the next challenge, continued late into the night.
And the third day, today.
Sallin, who returned to the staying mansion only at dawn, lay on the bed in the mansion for a long while.
Then, rising again and leaving the mansion, with hollow eyes, mouth slack enough to show the lower teeth from exhaustion, and slumped shoulders, Sallin barely mounted a horse and headed toward the harbor.
At a small tavern in the harbor, sitting mixed among fellow sailors and adventurers suffering from hangovers, Sallin drank clear simmered sea bass soup to recover energy, then returned to the mansion and fell asleep.
Thus, time passed without incident until sunset. And it was well after sunset that an unfamiliar shadow was detected in the mana Gravel had spread.
'Someone has entered the mansion's garden.'
Captured in Gravel's mana expansion spread toward Sallin's mansion was an unfamiliar presence, and the sinister aura from that presence confirmed it was not visiting with goodwill toward the mansion's owner, Sallin.
'I need to see this directly.'
As Gravel opened eyes and stopped accumulating mana, the flow of mana gathering toward Gravel dispersed.
"...!"
The black shadow, hunched over, turned its head toward Gravel, who appeared in the center of the garden in the blink of an eye.
"Do you have business with the owner of this mansion?"
Though the opponent had climbed over the wall and was hiding in the garden's shadows, no killing intent was felt yet, so Gravel spoke in a calmly settled voice.
-Ssssss-
The black shadow brushed past the leaves and branches of the trees planted in the garden, approaching Gravel quickly. And the two moons in the sky revealed the form of the shadow advancing toward Gravel.
Arms hanging down to the knees. A height three or four times that of an average person, wearing a bronze mask with no patterns, only eye holes, inside which deep green eyes gleamed upon meeting the moonlight.
-Whoosh-
At the end of the long arm swung toward Gravel was a sword with a blade much wider than an ordinary one.
'No answer, just an immediate attack... A skilled assassin at hiding killing intent... perhaps?'
The sound of the sword slicing through the air at high speed, connected to the long arm, produced a unique tone due to the wide blade.
The bronze-masked assailant's attacks continued.
Lowering posture as if crawling on the ground, the sword swung continuously with momentum to sever Gravel's waist, relentlessly pursuing.
When the sword slashed diagonally across the shoulder was blocked by mana concentrated densely in Gravel's palm, the bronze mask stepped back a few paces and asked Gravel.
"I am. Tallman. What is your name?"
With a strange voice trapped in metal from behind the bronze mask, Tallman finished the self-introduction, then tilted the chin upward from below to the right, cocking the head in a bizarre pose to look at Gravel.
"I am Gravel. I am here to protect Viscount Orid from you."
"Is that so. I have come here. To kill Viscount Orid."
"Then our conversation ends here."
"Indeed. Gravel, you are strong. I will not hold back. Any of my power. To kill you."