MaruMA:Gaiden04:Chapter 7.3

He's still not coming back: Chapter 3

The sea voyage diary I started randomly, Day Five. Night time, and everything after this is top secret.

The guest Wolfram mentioned is Lord Weller, who had parted ways with us five days ago.

You could also say it’s a small canoe-like boat that approached the smooth-sailing ‘Friends on the Sea’.

Although he did say he would catch up immediately, how on earth did he catch up to us with that tiny boat? My question is instantly answered. A firelight flashes in the distance ocean, he probably snuck out here from that ship on a lifeboat.

“Conrad!”

He raises a torch high above his head, and I see his narrow-eyed smile.

“Yuuri.”

The lifeboat moors beside ‘Friends on the Sea’, and the ladder attached to the ship drops onto the small boat.

“Your Majesty, please wait right where you are.”

“Eh?”

He steps on the sides of the lifeboat, his hands grabbing onto the ladder, as I look downwards at Conrad.

“I apologize for making it hard on you, but please stay right there and not move. I will leave immediately. I promised that guy to not let Your Majesty disembark the ship.”

“Oh, you mean Wolfram?”

“If I grabbed you and fled, things would get dangerous.”

Wolfram is pretending to be a crew member looking to blow off some of the alcohol with the night breeze, when he’s actually out on the deck to keep an eye on us. Although we fought side by side in Seisakoku, Lord Weller is still the ambassador from Dai Shimaron. If someone discovered him sneaking over here, it could cause a lot of problems.

I’m sure he wants to meet his older brother too, but he gave that privilege to me. It seems he’s matured quite a lot.

I glance at Wolfram’s back, and then turn back to the light underneath me. The flames burning in the square frame illuminate his entire body.

“…It’s an ambassadorial uniform.”

“Yeah, but these aren’t my clothes.”

Conrad lifts the corners of his mouth, tugging at the sleeve near the torch. The size doesn’t seem to fit, but it’s still much better than a Shimaron army uniform. And then he smiles innocently,

“How’s the boat ride? Are you comfortable?”

“Very comfortable, it’s completely different from stowing away. I’m staying in the first class cabin, and the room is really big too. But there are holes and craters in the walls, so that’s a bit strange. Oh, yeah, I can’t believe Wolfram isn’t sleeping in my room, what’s up with that?”

“Maybe he has some bad memories about that.”

“Maybe. What about your side?”

“Everything is going very smoothly. I finally caught up to you.”

“It’s only been a few days, you’re too fast. What ship did you use to get here?”

Lord Weller turns back to look at the murky ocean surface, and I see the torchlight twinkling on the other end.

“It’s a merchant ship headed for Shou Shimaron. The kids working in the kitchen even said this is the king’s apron.”

“Oh—You mean Zeta and Zusha, right? I gave that to them, because I really couldn’t find anything else that could be a souvenir.”

“And there are also soldiers returning to Caloria—that group of people who are familiar with the secret sea route.”

“Do you mean Captain Mountain Range?”

“Not only do they say they know Your Majesty, they even told me you and the leader of Caloria are obviously a good match for each other.”

“Waa—After sixteen years, this is the first time there’s gossip about me!”

But I have to add, “Still, there’s really nothing between us.” Because any sort of strange rumors would become a big issue if they ever got to Günter’s ears.

“Although you went together with the people returning to Caloria, I’m still surprised you managed to get out of Seisakoku. Besides, didn’t he say that?”

Shou Shimaron has decided to team up with Seisakoku without first asking permission from Dai Shimaron, so there’s no way the Shou Shimaron king would let Lord Weller go so easily, not when Lord Weller knows about it.

“About that, there was indeed a conflict.”

“How did you convince him?”

“I told him my weakness.”

“Eh?”

Conrad reaches his hand to the back of his head, saying a little awkwardly,

“It’s not any sort of weakness, actually, I just told him I used to be your close subordinate. Sorry, that was false impersonation.”

“You didn’t impersonate anything. In that case, you could very well just say that you’re the person who named me. But something like that worth anything?”

“If he knew the mysterious character working for Dai Shimaron actually has something to do with the maou, it could be a fatal weakness for me in the future… or so the Shou Shimaron king thinks. This way, Saralegui and I both have each other’s weak points. Although the truth is, the fact that I used to work for the Shin Makoku king has long ago been an open secret in Dai Shimaron.”

“Eh, does that mean you didn’t give away any weaknesses after all?”

“None.”

“If Saralegui found out, he would probably be angry, wouldn’t he?”

“What do you think?”

Whenever I say that name, that beautiful androgynous face will come to mind, as well as those forceful golden eyes. Although I really wish I could temporarily forget them.

“Because Saralegui’s personality is really horrible, the complete opposite of how he looks, and he is very possessive too. Wasn’t he quite set on you? What if he sends soldiers after you? Conrad, you really shouldn’t have made a detour here at this time, you have to escape as soon as you can. Ahh—See, the ship is so far away now, can you still make it back to that ship properly?”

“Don’t you worry, my friends will help me.”

His smile is mischievous, but I can’t see anyone else here. When the torchlight shines on the surface of the sea, however, I notice some white hands bobbing up and down in the water. Anyone not in the know may be scared by that image, but I know those are maidmer princesses. And there are also maidmer generals, maidmer kings, maidmer princes, maidmer earls…

What reliable friends on the sea.

“In that case, I humbly request that the maidmers show what they can really do, and quickly take you back to safety. Seriously, you should have told me earlier—you obviously don’t have any free time to come to this ship.”

Gently, he says something that would make any girl give up instantly,

“But I wanted to see you.”

In that instant, though, from those words alone, I realize that he’s going to leave me again.

That’s right, Conrad’s still not coming back.

Both of us try to break the short silence at the same time, and our voices overlap. Both of us then offer in unison, “You go first.” Only then does Conrad ask, with a bitter smile,

“How’s Josak?”

“The same as ever. Do you want to meet him?”

“No, I can’t board your ship…”

“True.”

Even if there’s no danger, a promise is a promise. Wolfram helped make this happen, so we have to keep that promise for his sake.

“In any case, he survived, and Gisela said he’s barely just surviving. But no matter what anyone says, or even if I talk to him, none of it works. He doesn’t react at all. Could it be that he only listens to Yelshi now? If that really is the case…”

I look at the surface of the sea at night. There seems to be something leaping in the pitch black waves, and the scales on the maidmer’s backs are sparkling too.

“...Was it actually wrong to bring him back by force?”

“No.”

I wish he could pat my shoulder. I want him to cheer me on, pat my shoulder hard, and tell me I wasn’t wrong, but this wish can’t come true. Even so, Conrad still puts some extra force in his voice,

“Gurrier’s hometown is Shin Makoku. He’s a mazoku, there’s no way he doesn’t want to go back.”

“Mn.”

“That guy really wants to go back, and I, too, am asking you to please take him back.”

“I know.”

“But there’s one thing you have to beware of. Once you get approach Shin Makoku, or when you can see home, there has to be someone standing watch over him.”

I raise my head to see Conrad’s solemn expression.

“I also asked Sizemore to help with this. You have to remember, Josak really wants to return. He wants to go back to Shin Makoku, to the land of mazokus, and back to your side.”

“Got it.”

Then what about you?

I swallow down the question in my heart, moving my palm down the ladder, and plan to crouch on the lifeboat that looks like a dead fish. But I fail.

This time I have no choice but to ask.

“Conrad.”

“Yes?”

I can almost touch him, and we’re close enough now that he can hear me even if I whisper,

“Where are you going back to?”

“To your side.”

“Really?”

He answers without hesitation, and that makes me so happy I can’t even say anything anymore, while at the same time my chest hurts like it was mercilessly twisted. But I don’t tell him that, instead reaching out my hand, and saying something completely different from before,

“Then go.”

This isn’t a hand to bring him back, but to send him off.

“Go, and do what only you can do. I have everyone with me, so I’ll be fine.”

“Mn.”

Lord Weller wanted to say something nice on the ears, but as opposed to his usual style, he grips my hand back with his wounded hand.

The small boat leaning on the side of the ship sways with waves, and the two vessels float further and further apart on the ocean, his friends on the sea taking him away too. They probably guessed that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn’t be able to go back.

We do whatever we can to stretch our hands as far as they can go, but our palms, thumbs, middle fingers pull away one by one, and with a final brush of fingertips again skin, our ring fingers separate as well.

It is only when I come back to my senses, that I realize the swaying torchlight has long since faded into distance.

Just now, I was holding his left hand.

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