Hayato's sword descended quickly, but stopped only a few centimeters from Ringrande's shoulder.
She stepped back and answered with an upward slash. Hayato deflected the blade without difficulty and pivoted on one foot, forcing her to correct her stance before she lost her balance.
"You're leaning too far forward when you attack from below," he pointed out.
Ringrande pressed her lips together and raised her sword again.
They were both in the courtyard of the residence the Empire had made available to the group during their stay in the capital. They wore light training clothes and used blunt weapons, though that did not make a strike delivered with enough force harmless.
Hayato surpassed her in level, abilities, and the experience he had accumulated as a hero. Ringrande knew that, but training against someone capable of responding to any of her attacks allowed her to notice mistakes that other opponents could not take advantage of.
She advanced again.
This time, she feinted a slash toward his side and changed the direction of her sword at the last instant. Hayato recognized the deception, shifted his blade to intercept it, and prepared his counterattack.
Then he heard a voice directly inside his head.
The surprise broke his control for a fraction of a second.
"What?!"
His sword flew forward with far more force than necessary.
Ringrande managed to lean back. The blade passed in front of her face and cut several strands of hair before continuing on to strike one of the wooden posts in the courtyard.
The wood split with a crack.
Ringrande remained still for an instant, staring at the mark left behind her. Then she turned toward Hayato.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Wait! I heard something."
"You almost cut my head off!"
"It wouldn't have gone that far."
"That's not the point!"
Hayato raised one hand, asking her to be quiet while he tried to understand where the voice had come from. There was no one near the courtyard aside from a few servants who had stopped when they heard the impact.
Ringrande was still about to complain when she heard the name Hayato spoke with uncertainty.
"Satoru…"
Her anger immediately diminished.
She adjusted her grip on the sword and swept her gaze across the courtyard, checking the corridors, rooftops, and shadows beneath the galleries. She saw no one, but that did little to reassure her.
Hayato continued responding to a conversation only he could hear. His expression shifted from surprise to confusion as he looked around, as though expecting to find Satoru hidden somewhere nearby.
Ringrande did not interrupt.
The last time that man had appeared before them, he had passed through the defenses of their airship, subdued the entire group without effort, and demonstrated that no distance could truly be considered safe from him. The possibility that he might already be watching them from somewhere was enough to keep her sword ready.
Hayato asked one final question and waited for an answer that never came. Then he lowered his hand.
"He cut the connection."
"What did he want?"
"I don't know. He said he was coming."
Ringrande looked around again.
"Here?"
"I suppose so."
"And that doesn't worry you?"
Hayato pulled his sword free from the post and inspected the small amount of damage caused by the impact.
"If he wanted to attack us, he wouldn't need to warn us first."
"You're too calm."
"And you're too worked up."
"Hayato, that thing could kill all of us with a movement of his hand."
Ringrande lowered her voice, though her posture did not relax.
"I'm not going to trust my life to something I don't even understand."
"Mm. That's reasonable."
The ease with which Hayato accepted her point made her frown.
"Then show at least a little caution!"
"We still don't know why he's coming, and even if we prepared ourselves, could we actually do anything against him?"
"That is exactly the problem."
The space beside them changed without a sound.
Satoru appeared less than two steps away from Ringrande.
"Whoa?!"
She cried out and swung her sword on reflex.
The blade struck Satoru's body and bounced away without harming him.
Ringrande froze with the weapon still raised. Satoru looked first at the sword, then at the woman holding it.
Ringrande said nothing. Her breathing had quickened from the surprise, and she kept her mouth shut.
Hayato let out a brief laugh. He had not expected to see Satoru again so soon; in truth, he had not expected to see him again at all.
"Satoru," he greeted him, resting the training sword on his shoulder. "I didn't think you'd get here so quickly. What brings you here?"
Ringrande took the opportunity to step back until she stood slightly behind him, though this time she kept the weapon close to her body.
Satoru looked directly at Hayato.
"I need your help."
***
Nina looked up when Satoru appeared in her office accompanied by Hayato and Ringrande.
She had been reviewing several documents with one of her assistants, who needed a moment to recognize the hero before rising to her feet. Nina maintained her composure, though her gaze briefly moved from the two newcomers toward Satoru.
"Welcome to Muno, Hero Hayato, Miss Ringrande. Thank you for coming on such short notice."
Hayato returned the greeting naturally.
"No problem. Satoru appeared saying he needed help, and I got curious about what it was."
Ringrande gave a more restrained bow. Ever since arriving, she had kept Satoru within her field of vision, something Nina noticed almost immediately.
She told her assistant that she could leave, then gestured toward the chairs in front of her desk.
"Please, have a seat."
Hayato accepted. Ringrande sat beside him, while Satoru remained standing.
Nina briefly explained that Satoru's presence was making Muno's relations with merchants and outside visitors more difficult. The barony needed to reduce that fear, and they hoped that the voluntary presence of someone with Hayato's reputation could help them.
Hayato listened until she finished.
"I understand the problem." He then looked at Satoru. "Though I still have one question. Why did you come to me?"
"Because I trust you."
Hayato stared at him.
Satoru did not appear to think the answer required much explanation.
"You have no reason to harm me, and I do not believe you would say something you do not mean. For that reason, I considered you someone I could ask for help."
The simplicity with which he said it surprised Hayato more than the request itself.
Nina, meanwhile, turned her attention back to Ringrande. Her posture remained rigid, and Satoru's presence made it difficult for the meeting to stop feeling imposed, even though that had not been his intention.
She picked up one of the reports on her desk.
"Satoru, the kobolds have requested your assistance."
She handed him the document.
Satoru accepted it and read the first few lines.
"I will go now."
"Thank you. I can continue speaking with them in the meantime."
Satoru nodded. He had no reason to remain if Nina could handle the conversation better without him.
"Then I will leave it to you."
He gave Hayato and Ringrande one final glance before disappearing from the office.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Ringrande slowly released the breath she had been holding and settled more comfortably into her chair. Nina noticed, but made no comment.
"I must admit, I didn't expect to see you here so soon," she said. "How did Satoru convince you to come?"
Ringrande answered first.
"He didn't convince us of anything. He appeared in front of us and asked if we could come with him."
Nina turned toward Hayato.
"That was pretty much it," he confirmed. "He said he needed help. When I asked with what, he said you could explain it better here."
"And that alone was enough for you to come?"
"Basically."
Ringrande looked at him from the side.
"You're both talking as though it was actually a request."
"Wasn't it?"
Ringrande rested one arm against the chair.
"When a man capable of killing you before you can react appears beside you and asks whether you can accompany him, it's not that easy to think you can just say no and go on with your day."
Nina did not try to argue. When she had first met Satoru, she herself had been prepared to deal with him in much the same way; even now, with his mere presence capable of unsettling both the kingdom and the Empire, she understood why Ringrande interpreted the question that way. For that reason, she neither agreed nor disagreed.
"I do not expect you to trust him blindly."
Ringrande turned her attention toward her.
"But I hope you understand that I would not allow this meeting to continue either if I believed you were in danger while inside Muno."
Ringrande's tension did not disappear, though her expression softened slightly.
"You know him better than we do."
"Well enough to know that he did not intend to force you to come."
Hayato nodded.
"That's how I understood it too."
Ringrande released a quiet breath through her nose.
"I know that's how you understood it."
She added nothing else.
Nina observed Hayato for a moment.
"I am curious. Why are you so certain?"
The question did not seem to surprise him much.
"Because we already talked after our fight."
"About what?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure I could say exactly what."
Hayato leaned back slightly in his chair as he tried to find a way to explain it.
"He asked me several questions about my character, my life, and my beliefs. I thought he only wanted to show his superiority over me or challenge my position as a hero, but that wasn't it. Talking to him was… strange."
Nina tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to continue.
"The questions," Hayato clarified with a small smile. "Some of them had answers that seemed pretty obvious to me. For a moment, I thought he was testing me or trying to see if I contradicted myself, but that wasn't it. He genuinely wanted to know, as if he didn't understand why I was… well, the way I am."
Nina remained silent for a few seconds.
"Yes. He tends to do that."
Ringrande looked between them.
"Do what?"
"Ask when there is something he does not understand," Nina answered. "Without pretending he already knows the answer."
"There's nothing strange about that."
"Not by itself. It depends on the question."
Hayato rested one hand on the table.
"There were moments when he seemed to know far more than I did, like he could consider enormous matters without difficulty, and then the next moment he would ask something that any ordinary person should know."
Nina smiled faintly.
"Then it seems we really are talking about the same thing."
Ringrande frowned.
"What are you trying to say?"
Nina took a moment before answering.
"That sometimes Satoru seems like a child."
"…Excuse me?"
"I am not trying to call him naïve," she clarified immediately. "He knows perfectly well what he is doing when he kills someone, and he does not need anyone to explain the consequences of his decisions. That is not what I mean."
Hayato picked up the thought.
"It's more like he's missing experiences that should normally come with everything else he knows."
Ringrande frowned.
"That would make sense if we weren't talking about an undead monster that could have existed since before our grandparents were born."
Hayato became thoughtful.
"What if he hasn't lived that long?"
Ringrande raised an eyebrow.
"With that kind of power?"
"We're assuming one proves the other."
Nina turned her attention toward him.
"Undead do not always appear after living an entire life as something else," Hayato continued. "Some form directly when enough negative energy gathers. They aren't born the way we are, and they don't need to grow for years before they begin to exist."
"But Satoru isn't an ordinary undead."
"Of course not."
Hayato rested his forearms on his legs.
"Among other monsters, there are individuals far more powerful than the norm. Sometimes they're called King-type variants to distinguish them, even though they aren't necessarily a separate race."
Nina understood what he was suggesting.
"Do you think Satoru could be something similar?"
"I have no way of knowing."
Hayato raised one hand slightly.
"But if he appeared directly as a superior variant of some kind of undead, he could have possessed that power from the beginning."
Ringrande remained silent. The theory could explain part of what they had described, but the possibility that the Satoru they knew might somehow represent one of his weaker states did nothing to reassure her.
Nina considered it. The idea did not explain everything, but it did remove an assumption that had seemed obvious until then.
"Then he could know many things derived from whatever forces gave rise to him while still having lived only a short time. If he appeared already fully formed, perhaps he also possessed an ability to retain information beyond human limits from the beginning."
"That's what I was thinking."
Ringrande looked toward the place where Satoru had disappeared.
"…It would also explain why the way he thinks can be so different."
"It could explain it," Nina conceded.
It was a possibility concerning his origin, not a justification for his actions, and Ringrande did not appear to confuse the two either.
Hayato stared at the glass in front of him for several seconds before smiling somewhat awkwardly.
"I suppose it would be funny if it turned out he was younger than all of us."
Nina let out a brief laugh.
"Considering some of the things I have had to explain to him, I would not be as surprised as I probably should be."
Ringrande did not share the laugh, though this time she did not argue with the possibility either.
***
A young kobold stood near the entrance while Satoru finished inspecting one of the newly erected support pillars.
The request they had sent to the castle was simple. Before beginning to extract the ore, they wanted to make sure the new tunnels, their supports, and the overall structure could withstand continuous work without risk of collapse. The kobolds had far more experience mining mithril than most humans and normally would not have needed a second opinion, but the current circumstances were not normal.
The shortages they had endured for so long had left them eager to work again. They needed ore, and the leaders of the community preferred to make certain that their urgency did not cause them to overlook a problem. Satoru possessed enough means to verify in a short time what would have required days of observation from them, so requesting his assistance had been a reasonable choice.
He extended his perception through the stone and checked the junction between the pillar and the ceiling one final time. The construction was good. He had found several points that would benefit from reinforcement, but none indicated a serious flaw in the kobolds' work.
Ever since they had witnessed his power, their attitude toward him had been particularly friendly. That disposition had increased even further once they understood that the land where they would establish their new home was now part of the territory registered under Satoru's name.
They wanted to maintain a good relationship with him and, from what he had observed, seemed interested in building trust between both sides.
Trust was a curious word to Satoru. He did not believe it should be used lightly. He could cooperate with someone, acknowledge their usefulness, or even predict with considerable certainty how they would behave under certain circumstances without actually trusting that person.
Yet not long ago, he had used the word without much difficulty.
He had said that he trusted Hayato.
The conclusion still seemed correct. The difficult part was explaining why he had reached it.
As he moved toward the next support, he clearly remembered the conversation they had shared after their battle.
Hayato was still showing the consequences of the fight. He sat with a glass of water between his hands while several of his companions remained nearby, watching Satoru's every movement despite understanding the difference between them.
Satoru gave them only a brief glance of acknowledgment before focusing on the hero seated in front of him.
"There is something I do not understand."
Hayato looked up from his glass.
"About what?"
"About you."
The answer seemed to confuse him even more.
"Before meeting me, you possessed enough information to consider me a threat. Even so, you chose to investigate personally before attacking me. Why?"
Hayato took a moment to answer, perhaps because he had expected a more complicated question.
"Well, because I could have been wrong."
Satoru already knew that answer. That was precisely why it did not resolve his doubt.
"The reports came from your superiors and had been compiled from witness testimony."
"That doesn't mean they couldn't have been wrong."
"You were also aware of the death of the hero I fought, and afterward you personally confirmed the witch's corpse."
Some of Hayato's relaxed expression disappeared.
"I knew what I'd been told about the other hero. But I'd never heard of there being another hero besides me. Even if there were traces of sacred energy, someone could still have made a mistake. I've seen for myself how far a misunderstanding can go."
Satoru observed him in silence.
"As for the witch… well, everything looked suspicious. I arrived to confront you, and right around then someone killed the Witch of Illusions. Everything certainly pointed toward you, but usually there's some kind of twist in situations like that…" Hayato paused briefly. "Though apparently not that time."
There was a distinction for Hayato.
"Even if you decided that you needed to discover the truth, you did not seem truly prepared for a confrontation. The most logical course would have been to act cautiously and, the moment you confirmed I was a threat, attack first to increase your chances of victory."
Hayato let out a small laugh.
"Well, I'm not sure that would have been the most logical thing. There were girls with you, and besides… after what happened, I don't think attacking first would have improved my chances very much anyway."
"That is true. Had you chosen to attack, I would not have hesitated to retaliate with magic."
Hayato gave a small jolt. He had already had enough of losing to a magic caster in direct combat and seeing part of what Satoru could actually do when he chose to use it.
"Was it really necessary to be that direct? You make me sound bad… I'm still a hero, you know."
Satoru chose to ignore his muttering.
"You also had earlier opportunities to gain an advantage."
He did not need to mention Liza, Tama, and Pochi. Both of them knew that Hayato had encountered them without Satoru present and had done nothing to them.
The hero understood what he meant.
"I suppose."
"Why did you reject those opportunities?"
Hayato frowned slightly as he scratched his cheek.
"I wasn't thinking anything special. I just didn't want to involve people who had nothing to do with it and who were also close to you."
"That could have made your objective easier."
"Maybe? Though I think all my companions and I would be dead if I had done that."
"Certainly."
Hayato exhaled through his nose.
"All right, you're incredible. But what's the point of all this?"
Satoru remained silent for a moment before continuing.
"I do not understand. You may now know how those actions would have ended, but at the time they were options consistent with your objective. Why did you not take them?"
Hayato looked at him for several seconds.
"Because it was wrong."
The answer was insufficient, not because it was false, but because it merely repeated the principle Satoru was trying to understand.
"That does not explain the decision."
"It does to me."
Hayato took a drink from his glass.
"If you had turned out to be an enemy and there was no other option, I was going to fight you. But as long as I could still find out without attacking first or dragging other people into it, I preferred to do it that way."
"Even if doing so reduced your chances of success and increased the risk to yourself."
"That's right."
Hayato seemed to acknowledge every disadvantage without considering any of them sufficient to change his conclusion.
Satoru found that strange.
"Then you knew there were more efficient options."
"I mean, I didn't think of every single one, but I definitely could have handled things better."
"And yet you chose a worse option."
Hayato laughed.
"When you put it that way, it sounds pretty stupid."
"It was."
"Maybe."
He did not seem offended. Then his expression grew slightly more serious.
"But if I start doing anything just because it makes winning easier, sooner or later I'm going to end up doing something I can't justify even to myself."
Satoru remained silent.
"This world is dangerous," Hayato continued. "Sometimes you have to kill. I've done it, and I'll probably have to do it again. But having a reason doesn't mean I should start there when I can still try something else."
"If killing one person prevents the deaths of many, doing so would be considered correct."
"It might be the right decision." Hayato moved one hand slightly. "That doesn't make killing something good."
Satoru understood the distinction between those two statements. What he did not understand was the importance Hayato placed upon it.
The result did not change, nor did the consequences. Yet for Hayato, that distinction seemed important enough to alter the way he acted even when doing so placed him at a disadvantage.
The conversation continued for some time. Satoru asked more questions, and Hayato answered some immediately while others required thought. On several occasions, he admitted that he did not possess an especially elaborate explanation.
There were simply things he considered right and others he did not want to do while an alternative remained.
Satoru did not share that way of thinking, but he continued listening.
The memory faded as he moved through the tunnel.
Satoru possessed memories of hundreds of heroes: brave people, figures willing to sacrifice themselves for others, men and women who had acted according to principles similar to those Hayato had just expressed. He could remember their decisions, recognize the patterns behind them, and even predict with considerable accuracy how many of them would act under certain circumstances.
Then why did Hayato occupy so much space in his thoughts?
The answer did not seem to lie in the information itself. Those other memories continued to feel distant.
He knew they existed. He knew some of those people had truly existed while others belonged to stories he remembered with a clarity comparable to his own knowledge. Yet there remained a separation that was difficult to ignore between those memories and the experiences he had accumulated since regaining consciousness.
His past remained scarce. He no longer felt that absence with the same intensity as he had at the beginning, but that did not mean it had stopped mattering. His previous memories remained incomplete, and because of that, the experiences he could unmistakably recognize as his own carried a weight that was difficult to compare with anything else.
Hayato was part of those experiences.
Satoru could understand him intellectually. He could examine his history, his circumstances, and the education he had received; attribute part of his behavior to the age at which he had arrived in this world, the values of his homeland, and the years he had subsequently spent fulfilling the role of a hero.
From a practical perspective, some of Hayato's decisions still seemed naïve to him, and others simply stupid. That did not make them incomprehensible. He could explain why Hayato acted that way, describe his logic, and recognize his motives.
Personally, he still did not understand him.
Had Satoru been in his position, he would have acted differently. He would have used every available advantage if he believed the objective justified doing so. He saw no point in exposing himself to greater risk merely to preserve an idea that did not alter the final result.
He had never regretted the lives he had taken, nor had he spent time deciding whether every one of those people deserved to die. Sometimes it had been necessary; other times, it had simply been the most convenient way to achieve an objective. He found no reason to feel guilt over it.
Expecting otherwise seemed absurd.
To him, the absence of guilt was part of his nature, just as feeding upon other creatures was part of a predator's nature. He could understand that prey would prefer not to die, but that did not turn the predator into something that should regret its own existence.
Satoru did not wish to become Hayato, and he did not even believe he could. Even so, there was something in that difference that kept drawing him back to the same conversation.
He had spoken about his way of thinking with other people. Some of his subordinates understood perfectly well his indifference toward many lives outside his circle, while others had witnessed decisions of his that could hardly be described as compassionate. Even so, they remained beside him.
Not all of them shared his standards, nor did they seem comfortable with all of them. Some had accepted them; others appeared to have resigned themselves to certain aspects of his character because the things they valued in him mattered more than those they rejected.
Satoru had accepted that without questioning it very much.
Recently, he had begun to consider whether that was enough.
If those who remained beside him were willing to accept parts of him they did not share, perhaps reciprocity required him to do something similar. Not to adopt their values or pretend to possess emotions he did not have, much less behave as though the decisions he had made were mistakes merely because someone else would have handled them differently.
But he could listen. He could accept that some people needed things that held little importance to him and avoid placing unnecessary burdens upon them when doing so did not compromise what he truly considered important.
The idea still felt strange to him.
Changing the way he acted simply to accommodate the feelings of others introduced disadvantages he normally would not have accepted. Yet those beside him had already made similar concessions regarding him.
Perhaps complete understanding was not necessary in order to recognize that fact.
"Lord Satoru."
The young kobold's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Satoru turned his attention toward her. The girl was waiting beside one of the pillars with two other kobolds who had arrived while he carried out the inspection.
"Did you find any problems?"
Satoru examined the structure one final time.
"Nothing that will prevent you from beginning."
All three listened carefully.
"The tunnels are stable, and the pillars will support the expected workload. I reinforced several areas where the stone might weaken over time, but you may begin extraction today."
The young kobold's expression immediately changed.
"Really?"
"Yes."
The other kobolds exchanged a few quick words before bowing toward Satoru.
"Thank you very much for coming."
"There is no need."
The three raised their heads, and Satoru continued naturally.
"Your work benefits me as well. The ore you extract will contribute to the territory, and our agreement depends on your ability to work under suitable conditions. If you require an occasional inspection, I have no objection to assisting."
The young kobold smiled widely.
"Then we'll work really hard!"
"I expect you to."
The response seemed to please them even more, though Satoru saw no particular reason why.
The relationship remained beneficial to both sides. The kobolds needed land, protection, and access to a mine; Muno needed their knowledge and the mithril production they could provide. Helping them occasionally did not represent a sacrifice worthy of gratitude.
The fact that he deeply valued certain people did not mean that feeling extended indiscriminately to everyone living under his influence. The kobolds were useful allies with whom he maintained a good relationship.
That was enough.
After answering several minor questions about the areas he had reinforced, Satoru walked toward the exit.
"You may begin whenever you consider it appropriate."
"Yes!"
"Until next time."
His feet left the ground, and he began to rise while several kobolds waved goodbye from the entrance to the mine.
He could have returned to the castle through teleportation, but chose not to.
Nina had been quite clear without needing to say it directly. Satoru's presence was making it difficult for Ringrande to relax, and Nina needed to speak with her and Hayato without him remaining in the room. He had understood the implication, but he did not know how long they would require.
For that reason, he chose to fly toward the city at a moderate speed. He was in no hurry.
He had traveled only part of the distance when he remembered a report he had recently heard.
A hydra had been sighted within Muno's territory.
It was not yet an emergency. Creatures of that kind were dangerous, but it was not unusual for them to appear far from inhabited areas, and he had already fought one before.
Satoru slightly altered his direction.
A hydra's materials could prove useful. Besides, he still needed to begin preparing Tama and Pochi's new equipment.
Nina would probably need a little more time.
Satoru left the route toward Muno and flew in the direction of the place where the creature had been reported.
***
Back in the office, the conversation remained quiet for several moments after that last observation.
The theory concerning Satoru might explain some things and be completely wrong about others. None of them possessed enough information to know, and continuing to speculate would not bring them much closer to an answer.
Hayato was the one who returned to the reason they were there.
"About Muno, I think I can help."
Nina set the documents aside.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Coming back in a more visible way." Hayato gestured vaguely toward the outside. "I could arrive on the airship with part of the group."
Nina nodded.
A public arrival would allow merchants, nobles, and visitors to know that Hayato had entered Muno of his own free will and, more importantly, that he was also free to leave whenever he wished.
"We could arrange a visit without making too much of a spectacle. If someone from the Church were willing to accompany you, that would also be useful."
"I can ask."
"I'll come too," Ringrande interjected.
Hayato looked toward her with a smile.
"I thought you didn't want to be near him."
"I can swear before every god that I don't."
Her answer was immediate, but the earlier tension was no longer as strong.
"That doesn't mean I'm going to let you come alone. Besides, if someone needs to confirm that we aren't pretending the fight never happened, I was there."
Nina considered the proposal.
Ringrande did not trust Satoru, nor did she have any reason to hide that fact. Precisely because of that, seeing her return voluntarily could prove just as useful as the presence of the hero himself.
"Then I will be grateful for the help of both of you."
Ringrande nodded, though after several seconds she spoke again.
"But there is something I want to make clear."
Nina waited.
"We cannot solve this for him."
"Of course. I do not intend for your group to become responsible for Muno's relations. On our side, we will—"
"I'm not talking about the group."
Ringrande shook her head slightly.
"I'm talking about everyone in this room."
Nina fell silent.
"We can come here. Hayato can speak to anyone willing to listen, and I can confirm that no one is forcing us. But if Satoru wants people to stop seeing him as a threat, then he has to do something himself as well."
Ringrande looked toward the place where he had disappeared.
"Whether that theory of yours is true or not, this is still his problem. No one can prove his intentions for him."
Hayato did not intervene. He did not seem to find anything to object to either.
Ringrande continued in a less severe tone.
"If he truly has no intention of harming Muno or the people who come here, then he'll have to demonstrate that through his own actions. All we can do is give him the chance for others to be willing to look."
Nina now understood the distinction.
Until then, they had mainly been considering how Muno could compensate for the fear caused by Satoru's presence. They could improve the roads, offer resources, establish agreements, and use Hayato's reputation to open a door toward the outside world.
But Ringrande was not talking about the barony.
She was talking about Satoru.
"I understand."
Nina took a sheet of paper and wrote down a few words so she would remember them later.
"I do not know what he will decide to do with that, but I will convey exactly what you have just said."
That seemed sufficient for Ringrande.
Hayato straightened slightly in his seat.
"Then it looks like we have a plan."
They agreed to return within the next few days. Hayato would speak with his companions and find out whether a representative of the Church could accompany them, while Nina would prepare a simple reception that would make the visit visible without turning it into a larger political event than necessary.
With that settled, there was not much else to discuss for the moment.
Ringrande was the first to stand. Hayato followed, while Nina began arranging the documents she had used during the conversation.
That was when the three of them noticed a small problem.
Hayato looked toward the place where Satoru had disappeared.
"Hmm. We need him to come back so we can return to the capital."
Nina stopped arranging the papers.
She had assumed Satoru would reappear before they finished.
The kobolds' request had not sounded complicated, and considering his abilities, traveling to the mine, inspecting it, and returning should not have taken him very long. Even if he had decided not to teleport immediately, the conversation had lasted quite some time.
She looked toward the window as though it might offer some clue about his location.
"It is unusual for him to take this long."
Hayato picked up the glass he had left on the table again.
"Maybe the mine had more problems than it looked like."
"Haha, please do not joke about that."
Nina seriously doubted that was the case. Besides, if there truly was a problem capable of keeping Satoru there, Muno might as well start seriously considering an evacuation.
***
Author's Note
Thank you very much for reading.
As for the chapter, I enjoyed being able to show a little more of how other people perceive Satoru, especially from the perspectives of those who do not necessarily trust or understand him.
I also wanted to begin developing a relationship that Satoru will come to value, one that will become significant by the end of this arc. This chapter is only the first part of that.
But that is all I have to add for now.
***
New chapters of Traveling to Other Worlds are available early on Patreon for Early Traveler members.
Patreon also includes extra notes, differences from canon, and experimental stories.
Support is entirely optional. Reading, commenting, and continuing to follow the story already means a great deal to me.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GreenHistories
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Thank you again for your support, and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come.