Chapter 6: Lunch, 2

Just outside of the village is a cliff, and on top of that cliff lies a beautiful flower field. The wind feels great, and the view of the whole village from up top makes all your worries feel so far away. It's a little path of heaven on This was Erika's favorite place, mostly because it's a treasure trove of chemistry materials.

It's a thirty minute walk to the top. My legs hurt, but if there's any consolation, at least the sun isn't a problem anymore. And my other cargo already gave up struggling and is now sulking quietly.

I finally reach the top. And just as I thought, she's there, the greatest flower of them all. Ela's overlooking the village with a listless stare, so out of it that she doesn't even notice my arrival. I position the umbrella sword on top of her, to shade her from the heat of the sun.

"....hmm?"

She looks up to my sad attempt of a comforting smile.

"Hey, it's lunch."

I hear grumbling sounds... from shorty.

"I'm hungry....~ fooooood....~"

I realize that bringing her along was a mistake.

"I don't want to eat."

My little sunshine's pouting. But we've been together ever since, so I easily see through those teary eyes that this morning's orange risotto wasn't enough to last her all day. She's a ball of sunny energy, but energy doesn't come out of nowhere.

"I got fish sticks."

"... I don't wanna. I'm busy."

Busy with what?

"Me! Me! I like fish sticks!"

The hell, strange thoughts about throwing her off this cliff comes to my mind. But the bags of fish sticks are still in her arms, so she's safe. For now.

I take only two bags of fish sticks from our resident idiot.

"The rest is yours, shorty. A rent fee for the umbrella."

Her eyes begin to shine like stars.

"Really? All of this, for me? Hooray! You really did change, Key. You're no bully anymore! But Precipi isn't an umbrella, okay?"

And she begins gobbling down on what was supposed to be her friend's lunch. She... did she already forget? Or is this just the Mei family's inherent optimism? Look, she's already in her own world now. Who cares about her anyways.

I place Ela's share down in front of her and sit behind her, sticking the umbrella to the ground. I take my time fixing her disheveled ribbon and combing her hair. Seriously, this kid shouldn't be running around. Oh, I know. I'll try a new hairstyle for her.

I go on in arranging her beautiful red hair without a single word exchanged between us. This silence is comfortable.

"...Done. Tada, pigtails."

After that, I sit beside her. I take a fish stick from my share, and she follows suit with hers like a baby duckling. How cute. Together, we take a bite.

"...It's cold. I like your home cooking better."

"Yeah, I guess."

We continue our cold lunch in silence. Crap, this cold half-hearted lunch isn't making my little sunshine any happier. In fact, I think she's getting even more depressed with every bite! Why can't shorty do anything right?

Ah, I know something that'll liven up this place.

"Hey, you wanna hear a story?"

"Hooray! I wanna hear a story! Story time!"

She already finished her share of fish sticks!? F—Fast!

"Shut up, shorty. Go cover your ears somewhere far away."

"W—Why...? Please let me hear it, please!"

Whatever. I clear my throat, wait a few seconds for suspense.

"Don't get your hopes up. It's not that great of a story. It's a simple one, really. It's just about why there aren't any silver moonflowers anymore near the village."

Oh, seems like I got my little sunshine's attention.

"... Silver moonflowers are one of the most common flowers in the Alraz Kingdom, boasting a high resilience and a long lifespan of 50 years, longer than any other flower known. But since its dull silver petals isn't one to inspire beauty and it's useless in any alchemic synthesis, this flower just sits quietly on the ground, waiting to be crushed by an unknowing adventurer's foot. Colloquially referred to as... erikas."

"That's right, but did you really have to quote an alchemy book?"

"S—Sorry, it's a reflex, from my studying."

What a diligent girl. But that's enough suspense for now. Hmmm... how did that story go again?

"This story takes place in a time when that Farwitch Labyrinth wasn't as known to the world as it is now. Back then, this little village of ours rejected the outside world. We kept to ourselves, and we expected the outside world to keep to themselves as well. There were rare times when unknowing travelers would stumble upon our uncharted village, but we'd shoo them away like they were rabid wolves after our sheep.

"So one stormy night, this hooded traveler came to the village and knocked on each and every door, asking for shelter and some food. Of course, us villagers hated these types, so nobody took the poor guy in. Or was it a girl? I forgot.

"Anyways, the next day, hoodie appeared at the plaza, all wet from the rain. 'Curse upon this wretched village yada yada,' it shouted, then promptly left.

"If everything actually ended there, then this would've been a good story about kindness and stuff like that. But no. A few days after hoodie left, a terrible plague swept the whole village. Young or old, it showed no mercy to anyone. Just in a month, it killed almost half of our people. It was a depressing sight, seeing faces you've known your whole life stacked on the streets, since nobody had the heart to burn them to prevent the plague from spreading. Nobody was safe, even my family..."

My two listeners go silent. W—What the hell, did I really sound that pathetic? Ela's looking at me like she doesn't know what to say, and even shorty's about to burst crying. I act like it doesn't affect me.

"Don't worry, that was a long time ago. I've got a family of my own now."

"*sniff*... Key!!! Dun give up on, *sniff*, life!"

"Getting a shorty's sympathy is probably the worst insult I ever had in my life."

"Ehhhhh....? *sniff*"

"Key..."

I pat Ela's hair.

"We knew we were all dying, and it was only a matter of time. But even when everything was so desperate, nobody offered to go to the capital and ask for help. Maybe they were all thinking that it was better to die as a village, together.

Then, she appeared. A little ten-year old girl who took a torch and burned all the dead bodies she could find. Guess who she was."

"My sister..."

"That's right. It was that outsider who everyone shunned, Erika Mei. She looked like a devil burning those corpses without remorse. Everyone got mad and shouted at her, saying how outsiders didn't have the right to burn those bodies, but for the first time ever, that pesky little outsider shouted back. It really was a surprise, and I'd never forget the words she said back then.

"'Stop waiting for a hero and do what you gotta do!' She shouted at them, scolded them for not even trying to do something. Later on I learned that her younger sister caught the disease as well."

"Heh? I don't remember that."

"Of course not, you were only two back then. Anyways. Erika slaved away trying to unlock the mystery of the plague. Not only did it resist every form of medicine, but new cases were popping out each day. She tried new methods every day, never catching a break. Sleep wasn't part of her dictionary. She had no choice. she was the only alchemist alive in the town. In her heart, she had no time to wait for a hero to save her sister. She had to be that hero herself. Every second past was another second wasted to save you. Then, like some miracle, she made a breakthrough."

"She learned that the disease was airborne, and it was being carried by the winds from the Farwitch Forest. She also learned that the reason that medicines wouldn't work was because they were modern medicines synthesized with alchemy, and their bodies rejected mana of all kinds.

"Thus, Erika gave birth to chemistry."

"Eh? That watered-down version of alchemy came from that?"

La just can't shut up now, can she?

"Yeah, shorty. Chemistry was basically alchemy without integrating magic. It sounds impractical and highly tiresome, but it was the perfect weapon against the plague. She spent a whole day making the formula for the medicine, and once she finished it, she went to the villagers and shouted, 'To those who want to live, gather all the erikas you can find! If you treasure your family, your fellow villagers, then uproot that flower and leave not a single petal behind!'

"I dunno, she was so awe-inspiring, like a battered hero coming from an epic battle. She needed a lot of those flowers, and the villagers were there to answer her call. We were filled with vigor. If a little girl like her can save the village, then what more them? That day, every single erika around disappeared, and went straight to Erika's medicines."

I take out that vial with the dull red liquid from my pocket.

"This medicine saved the village, and your life as well, Ela. All because Erika couldn't wait."

My little sunshine's eyes turns into saucers.

"Whoa, is that, the first chemic potion? That's so awesome..."

"It's not glowing... you sure it's not juice? If it is, can I drink it?"

I sigh. Well that's that.

"But Key, why did you tell us this story?"

"Hm? Nothing much, just wanted to properly teach you the reason why that swordguy is wrong."

"Eh? Green's not wrong! E—Erika might've done a good deed or two, but that doesn't excuse her of evil! She's evil!"

"No, you dumb shorty, I'm not talking about Erika's morality. There's no way I can prove that. Rather, it's about the existence of heroes themselves."

"Eh? Eh?"

"I don't understand the concept behind them. Why are we summoning people from other worlds to solve our own problems?"

Ela looks like she's getting it. La's tilting her head in confusion.

"No, think about it. Doesn't it sound suspicious? It's almost like the goddess thinks we're too irresponsible..."

"But what's wrong with depending on heroes? Won't that make our lives easier then?"

"Then are you fine in always depending on others? Will they always be there for us? Will they choose to serve our world over theirs? I think not. This kind of dependency... it's bad."

La frowns

"You're right... but Green is a good guy, I know..."

"I don't care. I'd rather believe that Erika somehow managed to defeat the Demon Lord against all odds. Because that's how it's supposed to be."

"Yeah!"

Oh! Ela agrees with me!

"Our world doesn't need heroes from the outside! Erika's the only hero we need!"

She's all cheered up now.

Hehe. A good rule of proving your argument: discrediting the opposition. If I brand that swordguy's existence as illegitimate, then the whole "why is there a hero then?" argument falls apart. The most important thing is that Ela remains that happy blob of sunshine that she is. I hope this talk gave her some peace of mind.

"Then, shall we go back?"

"Mm!"

"...It's like I'm forgetting something... Never mind~ I'll remember it along the way~"

The three of us walk down the cliff, back to our precious home, the local library.

A commotion greets us in front of the library. Swordguy's furiously knocking on the door. I wonder why he's all worked up?

He notices our presence, and he dashes straight to me.

"Key! We need your help!"

Stop shaking me so much!

"W—What the hell are you doing? What's happening?"

He looks at me straight in the eye, his face clearly looking desperate. I don't like this. This sounds like trouble. His next words hammers that very fact.

"It's Shine! She's trapped inside the labyrinth!"