XVI - Where Morning Gilds the Shepherds’ Crown

Only the torches along the rock walls illuminated the seemingly endless tunnel, while the creak of wagon wheels echoed from somewhere far ahead.

“Here comes another one,” Haku remarked.

Pan and Elda automatically stepped back onto the narrow walkway running along the edge of the tunnel and continued in single file behind Haku until the wagon had passed them.

“Pretty busy down here, mm,” Pan observed after hopping back into the middle of the underground road.

Elda nodded.

“The Easthardt Tunnel is an important trade route for Boramgar. Without it, transporting goods to and from southeastern Vadonia would be nearly impossible.”

He nodded ahead, where the torchlight was beginning to mingle with sunlight.

“Fortunately, our destination is only half a day’s journey from the tunnel exit. So if nothing gets in our way, we should reach it by dusk.”

“And you really think we’ll find those two there?” Haku asked, once again clad in her armor.

Elda tilted his head back and glanced at her bright feathers for a moment before looking ahead again.

“I’m hardly an expert on courtly verse. But to me, the clues in the song point unmistakably to Easthardtshire.”

As the three of them emerged from the tunnel, they had to shield their eyes from the dazzling light for a moment.

Once their eyes had adjusted, they saw a dense forest stretching away beneath the rocky foothills all the way to the horizon, where the silhouette of a tower could just be made out.

“Is that it?” Haku asked.

Elda nodded and lit a cigarette.

“The Shepherds’ Watchtower of Easthardtshire.”

Pan frowned.

“And you think Miri and Radler are in there, mm?”

“Well, I wouldn’t expect them to actually be inside it…” He pulled out Miri’s notes and unfolded them. “But the passage 'we shall meet again where morning gilds the shepherds’ crown, beyond the road beneath the stone', can hardly refer to anything else.”

He tucked the notes away and pointed toward the glimmer of gold beyond the forest.

“I don’t know of any other tower with a golden dome.”

“Let’s hope you’re right, then,” Haku said, taking the lead.

Elda’s eyes lingered on her feathered armor as he took another drag.

“I would’ve expected a Diamond-rank adventurer to have at least heard of the tower before. But you seem completely unfamiliar with large parts of Vadonia. Where are you from, anyway?”

Haku stopped.

For a moment, she gave Pan a questioning look.

“I think… you can tell him. We are traveling together, after all.”

“Tell me what?” Elda immediately asked.

Haku remained silent for a moment.

“You know what it’s like to die,” she began.

She looked up at him with her usual gentle smile.

“In that respect, you and I are very much alike…”

Elda raised an eyebrow and listened intently as she told him her story.

***

Several hours and many miles later, the three of them were following the main road through a dense forest.

They had been silent for quite some time.

A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves as birds chirped among the trees.

Haku hummed a quiet melody as she put one foot in front of the other.

Pan balanced along every fallen tree she could find, each time finding a new, increasingly acrobatic way to land.

Elda was still watching the two of them with an expression caught somewhere between disbelief and contemplation.

Once again, he reached for a cigarette, only to discover to his horror that he had run out.

He sighed.

“Say…”

Haku glanced back.

“Hmm?”

“How much of the eastern continent does this Demon Emperor you mentioned actually rule?”

Pan instantly froze in place.

Bamboocrap!

I knew something like this was coming when he gave me that weird look earlier.

“Um. How… much?” Pan repeated without turning around.

By now she could feel Haku looking at her as well.

“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that,” he continued. “You see… a few months ago, I met some merchants from Qinlana, and none of them mentioned a demon army or anything of the sort…”

Pan had practically turned to stone.

That damn half-undead cook!

Why does he have to ask about this NOW, of all times? I haven’t even had a chance to flesh out the story yet.

At last, she plastered the most cheerful expression she could manage onto her face and turned around.

“I-if no one there has heard about it yet, th-then I guess his influence hasn’t spread nearly as far as I feared, mm! What a relief!”

Elda seemed to mull this over for a moment, until Haku turned to him with a smile.

“Pan was only eight when she left. She couldn’t possibly know what the situation there is like now.”

Elda looked at Haku, then back at Pan, who nodded vigorously.

“And that’s precisely why we need to return as soon as possible. To assess the threat and investigate the Demon Emperor’s movements,” Haku went on.

Elda nodded slowly, watching Pan for a while longer.

“I see…”

Suddenly, his expression brightened as his fingers found something in another pocket of his coat.

A broad smile spread across his face as he pulled out a cigarette.

“Right! I still have my emergency stash.”

Pleased, he lit it and continued walking while Pan stared after him.

“So... some Great Heroine traveling east with her reincarnating Sword Saint companion, who is also a swan, to face a sinister Demon Emperor?”

He paused.

“I think… you two might be even more interesting than I am.”

Pan and Haku exchanged a surprised glance before following Elda.

He clasped his hands behind his back and grinned.

“I kinda like that.”

***

As the forest finally began to thin in the early evening, the Shepherds’ Watchtower already loomed above the treetops.

But the reddish glow of the setting sun soon faded, leaving the tower’s dome a dull bronze.

“Is it getting dark already, mm?” Pan asked as shadows spread across the road.

Elda tilted his head back to look at the sky, where dark clouds were gathering, blotting out the sun.

“No. There’s a storm brewing.”

“Then we’d better hurry,” Haku said after following his gaze.

They immediately quickened their pace.

A low rumble of thunder rolled over the forest, and the wind began to pick up.

Not long after, the first raindrops began to fall, and within minutes they were caught in a downpour.

By the time the first lights of Easthardtshire appeared beyond the edge of the forest, the three of them were already soaked to the skin.

Paying little attention to the rest of the town, they hurried to the first tavern they could find and rushed inside.

Ignoring the curious looks from the other patrons, they trudged straight to the counter, where they stood dripping wet as they waited for the innkeeper.

“Two rooms, please!”

The innkeeper gave them an understanding look before producing two keys.

“Storm caught you good, eh? Go on and get yourselves dried off first. We can sort out the rest later.”

“Thank you very much.”

Elda turned to the two women as he took one of the keys.

“Let’s meet back downstairs later.”

Neither of them objected.

A short while later, Haku and Pan retired to their room, while Elda disappeared into his own.

Pan’s fur was completely drenched, clinging dark and heavy to her body, while stray droplets still fell from her nose and the tips of her hair onto the floor.

Groaning, she dried her face with a towel.

“Ughn, I hate rain, mm…”

Haku, who had quickly finished drying herself thanks to her armor, regarded Pan’s wet fur for a moment.

Then she picked up a large towel and draped it over Pan’s back from behind.

“W-what are you doing?” Pan asked in surprise.

But Haku was already rubbing her thoroughly dry.

“I’m helping you,” she said with a smile, rubbing the towel over Pan’s round ears before working her way down through the rest of Pan’s sodden fur.

“W-wait, you really don’t have to… H-haa!”

Pan flinched when the towel reached her hips and rocked slightly from side to side under Haku’s vigorous rubbing, her cheeks turning red.

This feels strangely... pleasant.

When Haku finally pulled the towel away, she froze halfway through the motion.

“Oh…”

Pan’s fur was now sticking out in every possible direction.

Around her cheeks and ears in particular, it had puffed up into a wild, fluffy cloud. 

Even along her arms, stray tufts jutted out every which way, and for a moment she looked almost twice as fluffy as before.

“So cute…” Haku murmured, almost reverently.

Pan blinked in confusion and ran both hands over her cheeks.

“W-what?”

She sprang to her feet and hurried into the bathroom.

Seconds later, her indignant voice echoed from inside.

“WAHH! I LOOK LIKE A GIANT FURBALL!”

Haku smiled apologetically toward the bathroom.

“Please forgive me. I may have gotten a little carried away.” 

Despite her words, however, she couldn’t quite suppress a soft giggle.