XXI - The Road We Walk Together [End of Arc Two]

By the time they passed through the Easthardt Tunnel and returned to Boramgar, the lighter mood they had briefly regained was gone.

Water cascaded down the terraces beside them, glittering in the last rays of the evening sun.

Pan stopped for a moment.

“So here we are again…” she murmured.

Haku glanced at her, but Pan was already walking on.

“We should head straight to the Old Cross Inn and find Miri’s father.”

“Agreed,” Haku said.

“I’ll come with you,” Elda added. “Might as well see this through.”

They continued down through the terraces.

Pan’s heart began to race when the inn at the foot of the Lower District came into view.

She let out a deep breath and clutched the bundle containing Miri’s belongings more tightly as they stopped outside.

Elda placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a grave look.

“Don’t beat around the bush. It’ll only make it worse…”

Pan looked at him.

He’s speaking from experience, isn’t he...?

She nodded, and they went inside.

The place was surprisingly quiet, only a handful of guests occupying the plain benches in the common room.

When they asked after Miri’s father, the innkeeper told them he was still out.

They took a seat and waited.

Every time the door opened, Pan’s breathing quickened.

At last, he came in.

The same man who had thanked them with such hope in his eyes, just a few days before.

When he spotted Haku and Pan, his face lit up immediately.

Pan rose.

“Are you sure you want to do this on your own?” Haku asked gently.

“I accepted the quest. I’m going to see it through, mm…”

When Miri’s father noticed the bundle in Pan’s hands, his smile vanished.

“Her uniform? B-but… what does this mean? Where is she?”

Pan drew a deep breath and began to tell him.

Minutes passed.

Tears fell.

Disbelief gave way to bitter certainty.

Pan retraced Miri’s journey as accurately as she could.

Only what had happened in the Suidid camp did she recount in broad strokes, sparing him the horrific details.

Miri’s father reached into the bundle with a trembling hand and touched the torn remains of her uniform.

His fingers stopped on one of the dark, dried stains.

A sob escaped him.

Pan could barely hold back her own tears.

Had this… been a mistake after all?

Her gaze fell upon the bundle.

The letter.

She hurriedly pulled it free and held it out to Miri’s father.

“I-It’s for you. We didn’t read it.”

With trembling hands, he took the envelope and unfolded the letter.

Before long, he was weeping, his hands trembling so badly that he nearly tore the letter.

“M-Miri… Oh… Miri…”

Pan clenched her teeth.

Have we only caused him even more pain?

Would it have been better… not to tell him at all?

Haku came over and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Come on. Maybe we should leave him alone…”

But just as Pan turned, something closed around her wrist.

She spun around and found herself looking into the tear-streaked face of Miri’s father.

He smiled.

“Thank you…” he managed. “Thank you… from the bottom of my heart… for bringing her back to me…”

Pan froze.

“But… we didn’t…”

Miri’s father pulled the bundle against his chest.

Pan stared at him, her mouth slightly open.

Then she understood.

Her face crumpled.

She covered her mouth with one hand, but it did nothing to stop the tears.

They streamed down her cheeks.

Unrestrained.

***

Some time later, once the tears had dried, they set off again.

Pan drew a deep breath of Boramgar’s cool evening air.

It’s done...

“We should find somewhere to stay,” Haku remarked.

“How about the Whimsical Woodcock?” Pan suggested. “Maybe your favorite minstrel is playing tonight, mm.”

“H-he is not my favorite minstrel,” Haku protested immediately.

Elda chuckled.

“Works for me. I was planning to stay there anyway.”

And so they returned to the place they had set out from days before.

Sure enough, music greeted them the moment they stepped inside.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Pan muttered when she spotted Anxsel Sorrowsong on the little stage. “He’s actually here?!”

Haku beamed at once.

They found an empty table and settled in for the remainder of his song.

When the final chord faded, applause broke out around them, Haku immediately joining in.

Pan noticed her reaching for their purse.

“Oh no, you won’t!”

Haku froze.

“But… he performed very well.”

“You gave him enough last time, mm!”

Haku sighed and reluctantly withdrew her hand.

Her gaze returned to Anxsel as he prepared for his next song, and for a moment, she watched him in silence.

Her eyes lit up.

“I have an idea.”

Before Pan could ask what she meant, Haku rose and made her way toward the stage.

“What is she doing, mm?”

Elda shrugged.

“No idea.”

Pan watched Haku exchange a few words with the minstrel before handing him a folded sheet of paper.

What's that?

Anxsel’s theatrical smile disappeared as he read it.

He nodded.

When Haku returned, Pan leaned toward her.

“What did you give him?”

“You’ll see.”

Anxsel returned to his stool.

“This next song,” he began, his voice unusually subdued, “was written by a student of Minnesang Academy.”

Pan froze.

No way.

“Miri Morningsong.”

She slowly turned toward Haku.

“I asked her father if I could keep the aubade,” Haku whispered.

A simple melody rose through the tavern, and one by one, the conversations around them grew quieter.

Even the serving girl stopped beside a table, an empty tray tucked beneath her arm, when Anxsel began to sing.

“The night withdraws; the waking hills grow pale,

and from the eaves the swallows’ chorus swells...”

Pan lowered her gaze.

Her words have come alive...

She looked around.

Every face had turned toward the stage.

You wanted to become a Mastersinger, didn’t you, Miri?

Her throat tightened.

She closed her eyes and listened until the end.

“...Till then...

I’ll walk this road alone…”

The final chord faded.

Anxsel’s fingers remained on the strings, and for a moment, there was only silence.

Finally, someone began to clap.

Another joined in.

Soon, applause filled the common room as Anxsel bowed.

“Nice idea,” Elda remarked. “Wherever she is now, her song will live on. You two made sure of that.”

Pan watched Anxsel bow before the applauding crowd.

“It’ll live on, huh…”

She glanced at Haku, who was still staring at the stage, her silver eyes glistening.

Smiling.

Gradually, conversation returned.

Mugs clinked. Someone laughed.

And finally, Pan smiled too.

***

The next morning, Pan and Haku found Elda waiting outside the Whimsical Woodcock, his pack slung over one shoulder.

“Well,” he said, lighting a cigarette. “Guess this is where we part ways.”

Pan’s ears twitched.

“Oh... you’re leaving Boramgar, mm?”

Elda glanced up at the terraces surrounding them and nodded.

“I’m sick of all these rocks. Greenery or not, it’s too stifling.” He took a drag. “Thought I’d head north and pick up work along the way. Haven’t been up that way in a while, and there are plenty of towns between here and the coast.”

He glanced between Haku and Pan.

“What about you?”

Us?

Pan looked at Haku.

“I guess... we continue as planned. Take quests until we’ve earned enough money for passage to Aenzia.”

That’s why we came here, after all, right?

Her gaze wandered toward the distant turquoise dome of Minnesang Academy.

Then why... don’t I want to stay here anymore...?

For a moment, none of them spoke.

“Well, good luck with that Demon Emperor of yours.” Elda exhaled a stream of smoke and nudged Pan. “Maybe challenge him to an eating contest. You’d win that for sure.”

“Hey!”

But Elda was already walking away, his cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth and his hands stuffed into his pockets.

“Farewell,” Haku called after him with a small bow.

“Bye…” Pan murmured as she watched him go.

Her ears slowly drooped.

Elda kept walking without looking back.

Pan shifted her weight, opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Haku glanced at her and jabbed her gently in the side.

“Ow!”

Pan glared at her.

“What was that for, mm?!”

“You know, I never fought beside the Great Heroes alone.”

Pan blinked.

“So…?”

“Along the way, we always found others willing to share our journey. Companions we learned to rely on.”

Haku glanced after Elda.

“And if I remember correctly, Aenzia lies on the northern coast.”

Pan stared at her.

“We need money to get there,” Haku continued with an innocent smile. “But nobody said we have to earn all of it here.”

Pan’s ears perked up.

Without another word, she spun around.

Elda had nearly disappeared around the next bend.

“HEY! HALF-UNDEAD COOK! WAIT FOR US, MM!”

Elda stopped and looked back, one brow raised.

Pan hurried after him.

Haku followed close behind.