DAR Vol. 6 Chapter 22 Part 1

Chapter 22 – Nostalgia’s Loved Ones

“THE SEA!!”

A few days later, Roa shouted in pure rapture at the first ocean he had ever seen.

They were on a hill overlooking the Kingdom of Nereus’s royal capital, at a traveler’s rest stop with an observation deck. It was a prime lookout, a place where the entire capital spread out below you and the vast sea filled your vision alongside it.

Anyone would want to drink in the whole city before stepping into its streets. Several roads led into the capital, but only this route offered the view, so it saw far more traffic than the others and was packed as a result. That bustle had attracted a handful of food and souvenir stalls, and plenty of groups besides Roa’s had stopped to take a break.

“There are a lot of people, so don’t make a scene,” Dietrich said.

Even as he warned them, he was already chewing on a skewer he’d bought from a stall. Speared on it was the plump flesh of a shellfish with a big scallop-like muscle, springy and glossy enough to look irresistibly delicious. The twin magic wolves, Roo and Phi, seemed more interested in food than scenery, too. After Dietrich bought them their own, they attacked their skewers with wagging tails.

<…If you wanted the sea, I could show it to you anytime, brat…>

Grumbling all the while, Uncle Gry had claimed a spot on a nearby rocky outcrop and was sprawled out in languid comfort. Despite the crowd at the rest stop, there was an uncanny empty pocket around him, as if someone had punched a hole in the flow of people. One glance at his collar told anyone he was a familiar, but a Gryphon was still a creature people feared. No one tried to approach. In fact, most of them pointedly turned away, careful not to meet his gaze.

“It’s been a while since I’ve smelled the tide!”

“This really makes it feel like we’re home again.”

“…”

Kristoff, Cornelia, and Bernhart stared out at the sea with quiet emotion. The ocean and the capital spread out beneath them, a view that must have been painfully nostalgic for those who’d been away from their homeland.

Blue and white.

That was the palette of the royal capital as Roa saw it.

The sea and sky were a brilliant blue, and as if dissolving into that light, the capital was crammed full of white buildings. Every structure, right up to the edge of the shoreline, was painted the same white. Roa had known from books that the city was famous for it, but he hadn’t imagined it would be this overwhelming.

Apparently, seaside buildings in this country were painted white to reflect heat and keep interiors from turning into ovens. With so little to block the sun along the coast, it was simply hard-earned wisdom. Against the blue of sea and sky, it was breathtaking.

“The weather’s nice today, so you can even see the royal castle,” Coralde murmured.

At some point he had come to stand beside Roa. His eyes were fixed far out across the water.

“The royal castle?”

“Yes. Out there on the sea… You can see an island in that direction, right?”

As he spoke, Coralde pointed to a single spot on the horizon. He’d visited the Kingdom of Nereus countless times for business, and this view was familiar enough that his gesture held no hesitation.

“Yeah. The island with a building on it, right?”

It was a small islet at this distance, but perched on top was a gigantic structure, piled up like food heaped onto a platter, or mushrooms blooming thickly on a scrap of wood. It had the look of something that had been expanded again and again until it became enormous, and it felt too rough and ramshackle to be called a proper castle.

“That’s the royal castle. Nereus’s castle is on an offshore islet. Supposedly, back when the Kingdom of Nereus was still a band of pirates, they used that island as a hideout, then simply turned it into their royal castle.”

“Huh…”

It was common knowledge that the Kingdom of Nereus had been founded by people who used to be pirates, so Roa already knew that much. Still, he hadn’t realized even the royal castle had roots like that. Now that Coralde had said it, it looked less like a king’s fortress and more like a pirate den.

“The capital’s shape is strange, too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s long and narrow, kind of like a crescent.”

The capital below curved along the coastline like a crescent moon. Even the outer wall only enclosed the land in a half-moon arc. On the seaward side, there was no barrier at all.

“Apparently, they defined the capital’s boundaries as a circle centered on the castle’s island. Since the center of that circle is over the sea, the land portion becomes a crescent like that.”

“Huh…”

If they’d drawn the capital around a castle floating on the water, then the sea itself would fall within the “capital,” too.

Nereus’s royal capital truly was a city of the sea.

“Ah, Coralde! I was going to tell Roa that little trivia and impress him!”

Dietrich had noticed their conversation and called out. He’d already finished his skewer, and now he was wiping Roo and Phi’s mouths with a cloth as they finished theirs. The twins used to only tolerate that kind of care from Roa, but lately they didn’t mind when Dietrich did it. If anything, they sometimes acted like it was simply expected.

“In matters like this, it’s first-come, first-served. It’s a story everyone hears when they visit Nereus’s royal capital,” Coralde said, smiling without a shred of guilt.

“There are a ton of ships out there, too,” Roa said, turning his eyes toward the vessels floating on the water.

From here, they still looked small, but compared to the buildings along the shore, it was obvious how massive they truly were. Roa couldn’t help being fascinated by what kind of construction techniques could produce ships larger than a modest manor.

“Those big ships all belong to some country or another. Large vessels used for trade between nations take an enormous amount of labor and money to build. Unless it’s a state project, it’s simply not feasible. The exception is pirate ships that steal them, of course, but pirates aren’t allowed to enter ports, you see. Besides, building a large ship isn’t like building a small boat. It’s a collection of specialized techniques. They often use the latest researched technology, too, so they’re built under the strictest secrecy.”

Roa had only muttered to himself, but Coralde must have heard him clearly. He launched into an explanation so quickly that Dietrich didn’t even get the chance to interrupt.

“So getting to watch them build one is…”

“Impossible without very powerful connections. And you’ll be refused a tour of the ship’s interior as well. If you don’t have business with them, they won’t even let you get close.”

Since the ships belonged to countries, the negotiating partner was the nation itself. The captain could apparently make decisions on minor deals, but for large transactions with merchant companies, the country would step in and take control.

Even Coralde, who ran a fairly sizable merchant company back in the Kingdom of Perdu, didn’t have the standing to trade directly with the Kingdom of Nereus itself. At best, he could act as a middleman for goods traded between nations and sell them onward.

Naturally, he couldn’t even approach the ships, let alone be allowed inside.

After delivering that conclusion with obvious regret, Coralde glanced sideways at Dietrich, as if to say, Now it’s your turn.

“I can’t show you where they build them, but I can get you on a ship!”

Prompted by that look, Dietrich spoke with buoyant pride. Watching him, Coralde narrowed his eyes in a pleased, well-done sort of way.

“Really?!”

Roa’s voice shot up with delight.

“I know a few captains! At least one of them’s probably in port. I’ll set it up.”

“Thank you!”

Being thanked had Dietrich grinning as he thumped his chest, looking more than a little pleased with himself.

“Leader really is popular with sailors,” Kristoff said.

“Yeah. He’s popular only with sailors,” Cornelia added.

“Hey, wait, that makes it sound like I’m not popular with anyone else…”

Dietrich tried to protest, but his voice trailed off weakly. He clearly had some unpleasant memories.

“Leader’s hated by restaurant owners, innkeepers, and officials,” Kristoff continued.

“And by the people in the pleasure district, too,” Cornelia piled on.

They kept pressing.

“You get drunk, go berserk, and cause trouble everywhere.”

“If we’re not there to stop you, some places won’t even let you inside. You’ve been banned from quite a few.”

“…I don’t remember any of that…”

Dietrich’s drinking habits weren’t merely bad. They were catastrophic.

When he got drunk and something rubbed him the wrong way, he’d lash out. That rough temperament at his core would bare its teeth. Worse still, he never remembered what he’d done while drunk, so even if someone told him to reflect afterward, there was only so much he could genuinely regret, which made it all the more infuriating.

The one saving grace was that no matter how drunk he got, he never laid a hand on his companions. That meant they could exploit the opening to calm him down. “Calm him down,” in practice, meant either knocking him out or forcing down some drug to make him pass out.

Under the accusatory stares of the other two, Dietrich shrank back and tried to argue again. But because he did at least realize he caused trouble, he couldn’t get the words out once he opened his mouth. He made an inarticulate “Guh…” sound, couldn’t endure their looks any longer, and averted his eyes. Then, seeking consolation, he lunged at the twins and hugged them. Roo and Phi looked thoroughly inconvenienced.

“Huh? Dietrich drinks alcohol?” Roa asked Kristoff, glancing at Dietrich clinging to the twin magic wolves for comfort.

“Yeah. He just never drank in front of you. He drinks, and it’s always nasty cheap stuff. He even got drunk and went on a rampage in Amadan County.”

Dietrich’s last drink had been shortly before he met Roa. In the tavern attached to the Adventurers’ Guild in Amadan County, where Roa also lived, he’d gotten drunk and caused a massive scene, smashing equipment and even injuring other adventurers. After swearing he’d never drink again, he truly hadn’t touched alcohol since.

By Dietrich’s standards, it was practically a triumph. Normally he’d have loosened up after a while and started drinking again.

The reason he hadn’t, though, was simple: after meeting Roa, Roa often handled their meals, and Roa’s house didn’t keep alcohol around, so Dietrich had no opportunity. In other words, it was thanks to Roa.

And since he’d started playing with Roo and Phi in moderation, he also wasn’t letting frustration build up inside him, which likely helped.

“But if Leader hadn’t gone wild back then, we might never have met Roa,” Cornelia said.

“Yeah. Running out of money because of that is what made us take Coralde’s request,” Kristoff agreed.

Dietrich’s drunken rampage at the Adventurers’ Guild had left them with equipment damages and injured adventurers to compensate. To pay those reparations, Nostalgia’s funds were drained to nothing, and that was what drove them to accept Coralde’s escort job.

That job was the one that took them to the Magic Beast Forest, the request where Nostalgia and Roa met for the first time.

In a way, it wasn’t wrong to say Dietrich’s atrocious drinking habits were the reason Nostalgia and Roa ever crossed paths.

“So that’s how it happened! Then we met because your drinking habits were terrible!” Roa said, laughing as he absorbed the story with astonishment.

“Right?! Because of me, you got to meet me!” Dietrich thrust out his chest, as if his earlier dejection had never existed.

“Reflect on what you’ve done!”

“Yeah, reflect!!”

“Guh…”

But all he got back were Kristoff and Cornelia’s shouted scoldings.

“Enough, enough! I’m done with this talk about my drinking habits! We’re leaving!”

Dragged back into an awkward mood in an instant, Dietrich raised his voice to forcibly end the conversation. Some unrelated bystanders jumped at the shout, but Dietrich didn’t care. The man who’d told everyone not to make a scene was now, by far, the loudest one there.

Seeing that, Roa burst out laughing.

Nostalgia’s playful bickering was nothing new, but even so, there was a buoyant restlessness about all of them today. They were even sharing personal stories they normally wouldn’t bring up, as if their tongues had loosened.

Being home again must have eased their guard.

Still smiling, Roa chased after Dietrich as he went to prepare for their departure.

Once they entered the capital, they would surely run into people Nostalgia knew. Roa would learn even more about his companions.

The sea. New marvels of technology. Nostalgia’s… sides of his comrades he’d never known.

The anticipation of everything he would see, feel, and discover made Roa’s face naturally soften into an eager grin.

𑁋

Meanwhile, Dietrich was sweating bullets on the inside.

It wasn’t because Kristoff and Cornelia had just torn into him for getting drunk and going berserk. That was business as usual.

It was because he’d seen Uncle Gry listening from a short distance away, wearing that nasty, smug grin.

That loathsome bastard had learned his weakness…

He didn’t mind showing a pathetic side to Roa or the twin magic wolves, but he still wasn’t used to having leverage held over him by that vindictive Gryphon.

For quite a while now, Dietrich had been sharing a bedroll with Uncle Gry, sleeping pressed up against him for warmth, and they’d repeated their squabbles so often they were almost like roughhousing. Even so, Dietrich had no intention of admitting they’d “gotten along.”

Roa seemed to think they were close, but Dietrich wanted to deny that with everything he had.

Even now, he still believed that spiteful Gryphon was a harmful presence for Roa, and he considered himself an enemy. As far as Dietrich was concerned, he and Uncle Gry were only cooperating on a single point: protecting Roa. If an opening presented itself, Dietrich wanted to eliminate him.

He was sure it went both ways. Dietrich suspected that if Uncle Gry ever got the chance, he’d kill Nostalgia’s members just to remove them.

“Getting forced to drink, made to go on a rampage, and set up to take the fall… Yeah. That sounds like something he’d do.”

Dietrich let the mutter slip out so softly no one else could hear.

That vindictive Gryphon loved malicious schemes he’d label “pranks.” Now that he’d heard the story, he might decide to get Dietrich drunk and make him break something, or hurt someone.

If that ended with Roa hating him, or officials hauling him off to a cell, it wouldn’t be funny in the slightest.

Only now did Dietrich tighten his resolve anew to be careful around alcohol.

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