Chapter 24: Difference / Gap

「Ah, I can see it now. Is that it?」
「Uu… I still can’t see it. Sensei, your eyes are too good.」

A faint, tiny silhouette of a structure was visible on the far side of the horizon. When I called it out, Rin’s disgruntled voice drifted down from above my head.

「But I think that’s probably it. The surroundings look like this… if I remember right.」

She didn’t sound very confident. Even so, in this era most of the land is still untouched nature, and there aren’t that many human settlements. A village big enough to be visible from this distance wouldn’t be common.

A village. Yes, it was a settlement large enough to be called a village.
It’s been seven hundred years since I taught the people of Hiiro a language.
That is a long span, but if you think about civilization advancing from the primitive age to an ancient level in that time, it’s absurdly short. On Earth, that took tens of thousands of years.
That another region would have developed civilization to this level is strange.

Even if Hiiro’s region had lagged behind, there’s one thing that doesn’t add up.
At first, Rin was called a monster and had stones thrown at her, she said.

—And that was unmistakably Japanese—the language now called the Hiiro language in this world.

The possibility that a person from Hiiro just happened to wash up here is virtually zero, because this village lies across the sea from Hiiro.
Since seafaring techniques don’t exist yet, you couldn’t reach it unless you could fly like Rin and me.
People in this village using the Hiiro language was far too unnatural.

「Okay, time to go down.」
「Yeah.」

As we neared the village I lowered our altitude and landed under cover of the woods. If nonhumans are persecuted here, we have to approach in human form. A dragon stands out too much, so we needed to walk in from some distance.

「All right, let’s go.」

I slung a big backpack to play the part of a traveler, and Rin—also in human form—gave a small nod. Her transformation magic was extremely advanced, something even Nina couldn’t imitate. It had been no small task to placate her when she insisted she could just hide her ears with a hood or her hair.


* * *


We reached the village half a day later, just as dusk was falling and the sky began to redden.

「Oh my, traveler-san, you’re back again.」

Rin gave a cheerful wave to the villager we met as we stepped into the village.

「And who is this?」
「Pleased to meet you. I’m Ryo, Rin’s husband. I heard my wife was looked after here before, so we’ve come to offer our thanks and greetings.」

Keeping my anxious, racing heart in check, I bowed politely.

「Oh my, traveler-san! You never said anything like that last time! You’re no slouch, snagging such a beauty.」

Her friendliness caught me off guard. The way she waved her hand breezily, patting at the air, was pure, ordinary auntie. I’d imagined something much harsher from a village said to persecute nonhumans.

「It’ll be dark soon—come stay at my place. Tell me more of your fun stories.」

I had heard they’d welcome us if we came in human form. I had heard it—but this was warmer than I expected.

With no chance to refuse we were swept along to stay at the auntie’s house, served home cooking, and asked by her husband and children for tales of our travels.

At first I was wary they might have slipped something into the food, but their candid, guileless warmth—and a touch of alcohol—soon put me at ease, and before long I was excitedly telling stories about the strange animals and plants I’d seen.

「Sorry I don’t have a better room. We hardly ever get guests from outside, you know.」
「Not at all—if anything, we should apologize for barging in and taking over a room.」

After night had fully fallen, the room they assigned us was clearly the couple’s bedroom.
Their house wasn’t very large; besides the couple’s room, there was only a kitchen that doubled as a living room and a room for the children.

I was grateful not to have to sleep outdoors, but… I found myself staring at Rin’s face. She tilted her head as if to say, “What is it?”

The problem was, there was only one bed.
Since we’d called ourselves husband and wife, it probably never occurred to them to do otherwise.
I’d said I was Rin’s husband simply because it was easy to explain and wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

We looked too different in features and hair color to pass as siblings, and our apparent ages were too close to call ourselves teacher and student. Saying we were a married couple would go over better than two young people of opposite sex calling themselves mere travel companions, and it would make it easier to have a reason to visit again—that was all.

…Well, fine. I’ve known Rin since she was a small child. Sharing a bed now shouldn’t be any big deal.

「It’s nothing. For now, let’s just get some sleep.」

We’d walked a long distance for the first time in a while, and the fatigue had piled up.
When I lay down on the bed, Rin’s eyes flew wide in surprise.

「What’s wrong?」

When I asked, she shook her head vigorously. I sat up, took her hand slowly, and drew her toward me.

「Are you embarrassed about sharing?」

There was a door separating the rooms, but given how crudely it was made, you couldn’t expect any soundproofing. I brought my mouth to her ear and asked in a whisper, and Rin nodded over and over.

「Even so, there isn’t another bed, so please put up with it.」

The bed itself was about a double; it wouldn’t be cramped even with two lying side by side. It was crude—just a wooden frame with furs laid on it—but far better than sleeping on the floor.

When I lay down again, Rin, looking reluctant, came to my side, then turned away from me, curled up on her side like a little ball.

Hmm… we even used to bathe together back then. Gazing at Rin’s rounded back in the dark, I felt like a parent watching a daughter become independent.

「Good night, Rin.」
「Mm…」

Hearing that little groan of a reply, I must have been tired—I drifted off at once.


* * *


「Thank you for taking the time to see us today.」
「No, no, it’s our pleasure to hear about the world beyond our village.」

The next day, after spending the night with Rin there.
I asked the villagers and arranged to speak with the village chief.

We tell stories we’ve heard in various places, and in exchange receive a bit of food and hear about that village. That’s what I explained as the reason for our travels—in other words, we’re like wandering newspaper reporters.

Honestly, I’m not great at telling funny stories, but I do have, for better or worse, centuries of experience as a teacher. I never lacked for humorous material, and I could even repeat tales I’d heard from former students. My dragon’s memory, which lets me recall them precisely without a script, was truly a help.

「No, those were truly entertaining tales. It’s been a long time since I felt so merry.」

He seemed especially fond of the Nina episodes. I kept quiet about her being an elf and ended up retailing various stories about her. Some were embarrassing… but it was for the sake of gathering information. I’m sure she’ll graciously forgive me.

—Not that I have the slightest intention of telling her I did that, of course.

「However, I’m at a bit of a loss. I don’t have any amusing stories to repay you with.」
「No, no, any story is fine. For example… yes, how this village came to be.」
「A tale like that will do?」

The village chief tilted his head in puzzlement. Granted, it’s not the kind of story that would go over well elsewhere.

「Yes… or rather, that’s actually what I most want to hear. We’re speaking the same language, aren’t we? That’s very rare. Normally, if you live in different places, you use different tongues.」
「Ah. Indeed… those monsters utter something like words we cannot understand.」

The chief grimaced and muttered with disgust.
By “monsters” he probably meant elves. As far as I know, the only races that had acquired language on their own were elves and dragons. Centaurs, mermaids, lizardmen… giants, pixies, and humans as well didn’t have anything you’d call a language until I taught them.

「We’re traveling in search of our homeland… our progenitors. It doesn’t seem to be this village, but neither does it feel unrelated.」
「There are a few differences in how we speak, after all.」

I nodded at the chief’s words. Yes, the people here were certainly speaking Japanese, but there were subtle differences from what I use.

Intonation, usage, even the idioms themselves—something felt off in little ways here and there.
The woman who hosted us yesterday said Rin was “hashi ni okenai,” but the correct phrase is “sumi ni okenai.” And “bijin” isn’t a word you’d normally use for a man like me, either.
The meaning got across, but it’s hard to call it exactly the same language. It was that kind of subtle gap.

「This is a tale handed down through the generations; I heard it from my father as well.」

With that preface, the village chief began to speak.

「They say our ancestors originally had no words at all—no houses, hardly any use of tools, and were apes without fire. But then one day a certain magus came and taught us language and magic.」

Gesturing as he spoke, the chief’s voice burned with fervor.

「We… call that magus “The Magus of Genesis.”」

It was a story that sounded awfully familiar.