A Meeting
“Mnh... Ugh...”
The very instant I opened my eyes, a bolt of piercing pain shot through me, and I let out an agonized moan. Strangely enough, it also felt like I was covered in something soft. I could sense somebody standing nearby, watching me. I opened my eyes.
“Oh, you’re awake?” A boy with vivid, crimson eyes was sitting beside me. His hair was silverish-white, his face was youthful and faintly freckled, and his smile was warm and affable. I could count all of my acquaintances using only my fingers, and I could confidently say that he wasn’t among them. “Feeling okay? Still alive?”
“I’m not exactly feeling great, but I’m alive, all right.”
“If you’re in good enough shape to pick my question apart, I’d say you’re doing just fine.” He sat down on a stool next to the bed I was resting in. “I’ll have you know, you seriously scared the hell outta me! You must’ve fallen all the way from the top of that cliff! You landed right in front of me! I was so sure you were dead that I was worried your spirit might haunt me.”
“I fell from a cliff...? Hmm.” I could dimly remember what had happened. The last thing I knew, I was midway through a pitched battle with a monster. We were indeed on the edge of a cliff at the time, overlooking the Witchmist Gorge, a valley known for its ever-present blanket of fog that enshrouded the bottom of the ravine. I’d been caught up in the monster’s desperate charge and was knocked right off the cliff.
I glanced out the cabin’s window but couldn’t see much of the outside at all on account of the thick fog. Considering that, I assumed I was still somewhere on the valley’s floor.
“Anyway,” the boy continued, “you look pretty young, huh? Lemme guess—twelve or so, right?”
I hesitated. “How’d you know?”
“Wait, I actually got it? Dang, I’m good!”
“Why are you surprised?”
“’Cause I’m twelve!” He grinned proudly, elated to have run into a boy of his own age. That said, a secluded valley didn’t feel like an appropriate place for either of us to be, considering our age. “I live in a village just a little ways away from here. I’m doing some fieldwork, basically. I only use this cabin when I feel like taking a nap, so the place is yours for however long you need it. No monsters ’round these parts either, so you should be just fine here, as long as you can put up with the rock-hard bed.”
“It’s more than comfortable enough for me.”
“Whoa, seriously? You might be in for a shock if you ever end up sleeping at my house, in that case.” I stared blankly at the boy as he cackled. Same age or not, my expression stood in sharp contrast to his—I just couldn’t bring myself to smile, unfortunately. “Oh, sorry, guess I never introduced myself. Name’s Balrog. I’m just your everyday magic researcher.”
“My name is...Koh.” I chose to hide my identity as a Hero and introduced myself by name alone as I shook his hand. In that moment, I made my very first friend. It was a moment I would look back on more times than I could count.
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
Three days had passed since I took up residence in Balrog’s cabin. He would come by each day early in the morning, spend an hour or two on his so-called “research,” and then entertain himself by chatting with me.
“Aha ha ha ha ha! Man, Koh, you really are hilarious!”
“I don’t understand what’s so funny.” We never talked about anything particularly significant, and I more or less just reacted to the things that Balrog told me, but he cracked up in raucous laughter and told me how funny I was time after time regardless. Strangely enough, though, seeing him act that way didn’t bother me at all.
“Y’know,” he said, “the two of us might just be on the same wavelength. I’ve never had a guy around my age to hang out with either, which probably makes a difference.”
“You haven’t?”
“Yeah, it’s a tiny village. The closest guy to my age is a decade older than me. There’s a girl my age, though, and another who’s just one year younger than me. It feels like I’m surrounded by girls more often than not.” Balrog let out a sardonic chuckle, but unfortunately, I couldn’t relate. My own social circle wasn’t big enough for me to understand his problems, and I wasn’t good at dealing with people to begin with.
The only people who I felt even remotely close to were my traveling companions. Elena the healer and Brad the spy might’ve been close to my age, but I didn’t know precisely how old either of them were. Brad was a man, so we had that in common, but throughout all of our travels, he and I had never actually had a proper conversation. I barely ever talked with Elena either—she always seemed a bit awkward and on edge around me.
In that sense, Balrog may have very well been the first person around my age that I had a decent conversation with too. The fact that he didn’t know I was a Hero helped a lot with that.
“You said you’re researching magic, right?” I casually asked. Balrog’s informal, friendly manner of talking had been making me self-conscious about my own clumsy and stiff manner of speech, and I was making an effort to work on that.
“Yeah. More precisely, I’m doing research into the fundamentals of magical tool development.”
“‘Magical tools’?”
“How much do you know about magic, Koh?”
“Not very much... I’ve been told I have an aptitude for it, but I’ve barely been able to actually use any.”
“Oh? That’d make you a specialist.”
“A ‘specialist’?”
“Well, that’s what I call ’em, anyway. Generally speaking, there’s two types of mage: the ones who can use pretty much any spell they find written down in a book, and the ones who can only use one particular type of magic that’s specific to them as individuals. I’m one of the former, if you were wondering.”
Magic that’s specific to me as an individual? In all likelihood, that meant that the one type of magic I could wield was the one I’d used to wipe my own memory. I hadn’t used it even once since I became myself, of course.
“But the thing is,” Balrog continued, “even if you lump both types of mages together, they say that only about twenty percent of the people in this country can use magic at all. And that’s in spite of the fact that the magical arts are vital to the people’s day-to-day lifestyles on a fundamental level!”
As a result, those who were born with the ability to use magic were granted an automatic ticket to a privileged life. It was a story I heard time and time again on my travels, like it or not. I’d had more than my fair share of troubles with the magical class, as well.
“That’s why I want to make magical tools,” he concluded. “I want to let the people who can’t use magic have access to something close to that sort of power.”
“That’s a pretty admirable goal.”
“You’re giving me too much credit. It’s not like I’m not planning on getting anything out of it. I wanna make a profit! I want people to respect me, and I wanna live a life of luxury!” Balrog looked a bit bashful as he lapsed into self-deprecation. I hadn’t been trying to flatter him, though. I was genuinely impressed. After a moment of silence, he spoke up once more. “Hey, Koh. Would you mind meeting up with my sister some time?”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah. I told her a bit about you, and I guess she wants to meet you in person now. I was wondering if you’d want to come visit my village after you’re all healed up?”
“The village you live in...” I was midway through my own Hero’s journey. My companions would be worried about me after my sudden disappearance...maybe. Or maybe not, honestly. Our relationship had always been a bit distant, and I’d never really had any problem with that. They might actually feel more comfortable without me around.
But even without taking all that into consideration, the simple fact of the matter was that I was intrigued by Balrog’s village and his family. It wasn’t an ominous, foreboding interest, either, but more of a sense of curiosity. The sensation welling up within me was new—I’d never taken an interest in anything like that before.
“All right, sounds good. I’ll go.”
“Really? You’re sure?”
“Yeah. I can’t exactly climb my way back to the top of that cliff.” I stood up from the bed as I spoke, and Balrog’s eyes widened.
“Whoa! Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. No issues.”
“You fell off a cliff! Barely three days ago! Didn’t some of your bones break? I’m pretty sure they did!”
“I got better.”
“You got...? Koh. Are you sure you’re human?”
“As far as I’m aware.” Though I healed substantially faster than the average person, thanks to my power as a Hero, falling off a cliff’s a big deal. I wasn’t fully recovered yet, but I could walk without any particular difficulty. If anything, staying cooped up in bed would be the bigger problem—I’d feel like I was losing my edge.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering you survived a fall like that in the first place... Guess that settles it then. Wanna head out right away?”
“Don’t you have research to do?”
“Yeah, but I can only actually work on the thing I’m doing now for a couple hours early in the morning. I make my observations, write up my findings, and then I’m basically free for the rest of the day.” That left me with no particular reason to turn him down. I waited for Balrog to pack up his stuff, then set off, following him through the valley. I’d lost the majority of my own supplies, and my sword had snapped just above the hilt. As a natural result, I was unusually unburdened.
“Should I carry some of your stuff, Balrog?”
“It’s not that heavy. You really think I’d shove my baggage off on an injured person?”
“I’d probably have an easier time with it than you. You’re built like a twig.”
“Ha ha, ouch! I guess you did say you’re a monster hunter, right?”
“Yeah.” I’d almost forgotten, but I’d said that was my line of work at one point while Balrog was telling me his life’s story. I figured that calling myself a “monster hunter” would raise fewer questions than if I went with “adventurer” or “bodyguard.” My physical aptitude was just about the only thing I could pride myself on, so it might’ve actually been a good fit for me.
“Guess that’d explain why you’re so confident,” Balrog replied with a mischievous grin. He looked like a problem child who’d just thought up a fabulous new prank. “In that case, I think I have a favor to ask after all, if you’re feeling up to it.”
❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
We passed through a cave formed by a crack in the valley’s wall, emerging into a forest on the other side. Balrog’s village was apparently just beyond. As the trees thinned around us, we entered a vast area of cultivated land with a paved road running between the fields. Balrog had described his village as being in the middle of nowhere, but it seemed they still had a decent enough trade passing through to merit that sort of infrastructure.
“A peddler comes through every week to buy up all the crops and goods we produce here,” Balrog explained in a somewhat bored tone. “We make trips to a bigger city that’s nearby every once in a while, and I really do mean a while. As in, barely ever. Anyway, we’ve gotta do something about that before anything else. Where would she be around this time of day...? Ah, found her! Heeey, Lyra!”
Balrog shouted out into the field, and one of the villagers working it glanced up at us. She was a red-haired girl who looked to be about the same age as we were. “Huh? You’re back early today, Balrog... Kyaaaahhhhhhhhh?!”
She shrieked so loudly, I thought it might burst my eardrums. I would’ve covered my ears, but my hands were both occupied at the time, so I just had to suffer through it. Balrog, meanwhile, already had his plugged up.
“A-A-A boar! A huge boar! Why’s it here?!” The other villagers who were working the field turned around to see what she was shouting about. Balrog, meanwhile, was clutching his stomach and convulsing with laughter.
“Hey, Balrog,” I said in a questioning tone, “what’s going on here? This doesn’t feel right.”
“Aha ha ha ha ha! Nah, this is exactly what I was going for! That reaction was perfect, seriously!”
“Are you crazy, Balrog?!” shouted the girl. “This is no time to be laughing—that thing’s dangerous! Get away from it! It’s gonna eat you!”
“It’s fine, Lyra! Take a closer look!”
“Huh...?” The girl Balrog called Lyra squinted, training her eyes (which I happened to notice were also red) on the massive boar...and finally picking out the fact that I was carrying it. It was over two meters long from end to end, and I’d barely been visible beneath its bulk. “Is that a person...?”
“Yeah, and he took out the boar that’s been making a mess of the forest lately! You should’ve seen it! He was incredible!”
“He did...? Umm, wait, who is he?”
“This is Koh! Y’know, the guy I told you about before?”
“Oh, right! Of course... Ah, I’m Lyra. You can set that thing down for now if you want.”
“Sure.” I walked over to an unused patch of ground and dropped the boar. The massive thud it made as it impacted the ground was loud enough that Lyra and Balrog both jumped in surprise.
