“You forgot, didnโt you, you bastard!”
Dusk shouted, making his usually pointy head even pointier.
“I told you to watch out because there was groundwater collected there, didnโt I!”
“I hadnโt forgotten! It was your explanation that was bad, right! If it was so close by, then you shouldnโt have used such a vague word as โover thereโ!”
“What did you say!”
Again, Dusk and Dawn were having a sibling quarrel.
The cave had a low ceiling, so their voices echoed and were noisy.
Everyone wore a face that said โOh dear.โ
“What happened this time?”
I asked Garment while holding my ears.
“He almost made a mistake in the route to dig the hole. Well, it seemed he stopped working as soon as he noticed the mistake.”
“Ah, is that so.”
The nuance of exasperation and acceptance, as if to say โOh, itโs that same old thing again,โ seemed to have been conveyed to Garment accurately. He also shrugged his shoulders sympathetically, as if to say โOh dear.โ
“What was with that way of talking to your brother! I would never speak to you again!”
“Same to you!”
Dusk and Dawn threw down their pickaxes, making a rattling sound.
Only that part had an oddly rhythmic quality, as if the sound of percussion music had been playing. I almost burst into laughter at their perfect timing, but I struggled to hold it back, knowing that if I got caught, they would both become even more displeased.
Both of them walked in silence for a while and then parted ways in opposite directions. The cave was still very narrow, so there were limited ways to avoid running into each other. The older brother, Dusk, headed to the storeroom, and the younger brother, Dawn, headed to the kitchen.
“They should have gotten along.”
“They fought because they were close, didnโt they? I envied the fact that they had family nearby with whom they could speak their minds.”
“Didnโt you fight with everyone here?”
“Yes, thatโs right.”
“The day before yesterday, didnโt you doodle on my face, Garment?”
“That was your punishment for oversleeping. Besides, it was magic paint, so it didnโt leave any marks.”
“Then next time you overslept, Garment, I would pull a prank on you.”
“Ah, try it.”
Garment gave a fearless smile, and I also smirked.
We repeatedly set harmless pranks on each other and got back at each other, sometimes getting genuinely angry or being scolded. I loved the time spent being startled by him and startling him in return.
“Well then, I would go and check on Dawn.”
Garment indirectly conveyed to me, โIโll leave the other one to you.โ After all, we were about the only ones who could listen to these sibling quarrels.
My uncle and his younger brotherโ in other words, my fatherโ were not just on bad terms but were clearly political enemies, so there was no persuasiveness in trying to settle a sibling quarrel. Conversely, Ritchie couldnโt stand up to his older brother, so he also couldnโt say anything.
Therefore, when Dusk and Dawn fought, Garment and I naturally became the mediators. We had no idea how many times they had fought, so my timing with Garment had become perfectly in sync.
“Got it.”
I headed toward the storeroom. Inside the wooden boxes of the storeroom was my usual spot, but Duskโs usual spot was the place behind the boxes, concealed in the shadows. There, Dusk had spread out a rag, used his arm as a pillow, and lay curled up in a sulky sleep.
“Oh, is that the princess?”
“Yes, Iโm the princess.”
“โฆYou know, itโs interesting to call someone โprincessโ as an ordinary fact, not as a pick-up line.”
“Dusk, did you also call people who werenโt princesses โprincessโ?”
“All girls are princesses. It wasnโt a matter of birth or upbringing.”
“Did you pick up girls that way?”
Dusk, who had been lying down with a roll, raised his upper body while laughing.
“Of course I didโฆ though that guy got more popular than me.”
“Dawn did?”
“He was, how should I put it, attentive. He could be considerate. He worked seriously. At festivals and such, I got more popular, you know? But if it lasted for a long time, it didnโt go well. I was easygoing and careless. I knew that myself.”
I thought he had cheered up, but that wasnโt the case.
“Did you remember something unpleasant?”
“His wife is our childhood friend. I actually liked her quite a bit, too.”
“Huh, Dawn is married!?”
It was the first time I had heard of this.
Both Dusk and Dawn had slightly grim looks, and Dawn had a mohawk. I had already been surprised by the idea that they were popular with girls, and now I was even more surprised that he was married.
“Yeah. He has a child, too. A girl.”
“Wow!”
“And Iโm still single. Well, I didnโt mind being free, though.”
“Then, when you go outside, would you look for a marriage partner?”
“No, I would buy a souvenir for my niece. Sheโs so precious that it wouldnโt hurt even if she got in my eye, you know.”
The way he said that looked truly happy, and I couldnโt help but blush.
“I feel like I could be friends with her.”
“She belonged to the group that had a cool uncle. We could become best pals.”
“I wonder about that.”
“Oh, whoops, was I too cool? Being cool is a crime.”
“I think your excessive positivity is amazing.”
When I murmured this with slight exasperation, Dusk burst into loud, amused laughter.
Dusk boasted and bragged, and probably those who disliked him really disliked him.
But neither I, nor anyone in the Gankutsu Knights, disliked Dusk.
However, how many days had passed since we started living here?
It must have been over a month since the day I was summoned by a magical accident.
Life here was fun.
Far more so than the suffocating life in the royal castle.
I knew that no one was here just to play around.
Yet I felt fulfilled living here.
Still, it was cramped and dark, and I hadnโt seen the sun or even the clouds for over a month. Even I got stressed out. I thought everyone else must have been storing up even more feelings inside. Even so, Dusk cracked jokes, laughed loudly, and whether consciously or not, acted brightly and foolishly.
And his younger brother Dawn, always covering for his brother so he wouldnโt go on a rampage, silently carried out the work assigned to him.
All for the day that would surely come, the day we would escape this cave.
“Thereโs no rain that never stopped. There are no clouds that never cleared. Thereโs always hope. Thatโs our family mottoโฆ so even in a cave like this, a sunny day would come.”
Dusk said this and pointed his index finger toward the ceiling.
That ceiling began to brighten little by little.
A soft, warm light was emitted from Duskโs fingertip.
This was a special magic that only Dusk could use.
Its name was โClear Skies.โ
“Youโre not supposed to use magic without permission, you know?”
“Itโs fine. Since a bit of humidity had accumulated, we had to clear it away one way or another. Otherwise, our food would have rotted.”
This was quite different from my ใIllumination Sphereใ. Although the purpose of ใIllumination Sphereใ was to illuminate the surroundings with light, Duskโs ใClear Skiesใ was magic that summoned the weather or situation of โsunny weatherโ itself. The surroundings became filled with the presence of sunlight, and the humidity and chill vanished. It seemed to have a good effect on wheat and vegetables as well. Unlike ใIllumination Sphereใ, which could be cast with a small amount of magical power, ใClear Skiesใ was far superior in strength and the rank of magic.
Meanwhile, Dawn, his younger brother, could call forth rain. With these twoโs magic, many villages would have been saved.
However, it seemed that the two of them never showed this magic to anyone else. Not even to Uncle Conrad, until they ended up being confined in this cave, did they say a single word.
“It feels warm.”
“Warmth is a good thing. But itโs no good if itโs only warmth.”
“Itโs no good?”
“Life needed moisture. Didnโt Lord Conrad say that often?”
Indeed, my uncle often said such things. I did not think he said it with such deep meaning thoughโฆ without saying so, I nodded silently.
“The ใClear Skiesใ I use, and the ใRain Cloudsใ Dawn use. Both are prohibited magic. We should not have shown them to others.”
“โฆIs it alright to ask why?”
“For your age, your way of speaking is wise. You donโt have to worry about grown-up matters.”
At my words, Dusk gave a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders.
“If it had been bad to ask, I would not have told you this story in the first place. The reason is simple. Our ancestor made a huge blunder using this magic.”
“A huge blunder?”
“Our ancestor tried to stop a storm that came to the island by using all of their magical power. It was a great successโฆ or rather, too much of a success. For half a year, Argennes Island had no rain at all.”
If that was true, it was a great disaster.
For a moment, I thought it was a joke, but Dusk had a stern look unlike his usual self.
“Well, one could produce water with magic, but that would only save those who could use magic. Farmers who could not use magic would have dried up, and there would have been a shortage of food. Our ancestor almost got their head chopped off.”
“So that meant they were saved?”
“They were laughed at, saying that someone of your level of magic could not possibly do something so outrageous. They didnโt use any ancient relic, and their bloodline was just that of commoners. They said it must have just been a coincidence of circumstances.”
I involuntarily gulped.
“โฆIn reality, how was it?”
“I donโt know. But controlling the weather of the entire island would have been the work of a great magic. Even I could not keep it sunny for months on end. I had never used this magic seriously, but even if I did, it would only stop ordinary rain for about thirty minutes. Its range would be narrow. Dawn is probably about the same.”
Dusk showed a sarcastic smile.
“โฆHowever, I believe that itโs undeniable our ancestor triggered the drought. Not that it was proof, but our ancestor felt responsible and sealed away the magic of ใClear Skiesใ and ใRain Cloudsใ. They decided that one must never manipulate the sky unless not using it would mean the destruction of the country or the world.”
“You just used it earlier, didnโt you?”
“Warming up the area a bit or dispelling traces of moisture would not be that different from other magic. And besides, weโre not interfering with the real sky.”
Honestly, I wanted to see it.
Of course, I knew it was a bad idea.
“No. I canโt show you.”
“I did not say anything.”
“Your face said it all.”
“โฆMy face might have said it, but I really did not want to see it.”
“Thatโs right. Youโre a good kid. You properly understood that thereโs a line that must not be crossed.”
Dusk patted my head.
As if admitting that I had been seen through, I ended up shaking his hand away.
“Besides, I canโt learn strong magic anyway.”
“Do not bother yourself with something as boring as strong or weak magic. Iโm weak in a fight, too. I only had a loud voice and attitude.”
However, Dusk continued to pat my head without caring. His voice felt somehow different from his usual self. It gave off a strangely lonely feeling.
“A single human has limits to what they could do. Look at Lord Conrad. Itโs not like the lord had any muscle strength. Even so, everyone decided to follow the lord. Thatโs what true strength meant.”
“โฆYes”
When I nodded, Dusk nodded happily as well.
“So, you donโt have to show me any magic, but please make up with Dawn.”
“Huh?”
Dusk momentarily looked dumbfounded.
Then he burst out laughing as if something had popped.
“Ahaha! I got one pulled over on me!”
“I came here to mediate the quarrel. I didnโt come here to be scolded.”
“Is that so, is that so. Then I was off the mark. Sorry, Princess.”
“As long as you understood, thatโs fine.”
Even so, Dusk continued to laugh.
Then he pinched my cheek with a flick.
I felt slightly annoyed by such a gesture as if to amuse a child.
“Hey, Dusk, what do you think youโre doing to the Princessโs cheek?”
“I like you, Princess. I canโt show you my magic, but I donโt mind teaching you.”
“No, thatโs scary, so I donโt need it.”
“I wouldnโt teach you everything. Just a small tip or something like that.”
I was about to scold him for not listening, but at that moment, curiosity got the better of me, and I asked back.
“A tip?”
“Weather isnโt something you manipulate. Itโs something you ask for. And the one you asked isnโt just the sun. It could have been the grass growing in the field, the trees growing in the forest, the horses and monkeys running through the fields and mountains, the insects everywhere. Not just divine things. You revere the commonplace and trivial things around you, bow your head, and beg them to please listen to you. Thatโs how it worked.”
“โฆโฆโฆโฆโฆโฆWas that magic?”
“Whatโs the matter, is it that strange?”
He asked back with a puzzled look.
But this idea was far removed from the concept of magic I had been taught.
To be honest, I was a bit surprised.
“โฆMy mother said that magic was for defeating and controlling enemies.”
“Ugh, no way, no way. Iโm well-bred, so I hate that kind of barbaric vibe.”
He heaved a sigh so deep that it might have reached the bottom of the sea, shrugging his shoulders with an unbelievably large motion. It was so exaggerated that I burst out laughing.
“Weird.”
“What, so which one do you prefer?”
“โฆโฆโฆโฆI hate it.”
“Which one do you hate?”
“My motherโs way of teaching magic. Honestly, I really hate it.”
“I see, thatโs sad.”
“Sad?”
“If you had to live by controlling someone through magic and fighting, it would be sad. You had to end it somewhere. Magic is best used so that everyone could be happy.”
โ
“A summoning accidentโฆ? Or rather, what was a summoningโฆ?”
Jill, who had woken up in the morning, opened her eyes wide on the bed and muttered a question.
But there was no one who had the answer.