Yuusha no Segare

Volume 3, Chapter 2 – Beginning of an Adventure Part 4

When Shouko opened her eyes, the first things she noticed was that she had a dull headache, and that there was a ceiling made of wooden planks above her.

“Ugh……”

When she tried to sit up, she realized that there was a thick and slightly stiff bed sheet beneath the hand that she used to steady herself.

There was a stiff but warm blanket covering her body.

“…….Eh”

It was dark, but it was indoors.

It was a room, protected from the elements by walls and a roof.

When she took a breath and looked around, she saw Yasuo, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping in a chair beside her bed.

“Where… am I?”

When she looked down at her body, she realized that she was wearing a simple one piece hempen dress that she had never seen before.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“…!!”

“I’m sorry, I seem to have surprised you.”

When she turned to look, she realized that a woman holding a lamp that was giving off a yellow light had appeared there at some point.

“U-Umm…”

She was a middle-aged woman, who appeared to be in her fifties.

She was wearing a long robe that looked like something a witch would wear, and her short hair looked like it was silver colored instead of having gone grey with age.

“Be at ease. You are safe here. The beasts from the forest will not come close to this place.”

“D-Did you save me?”

“I didn’t do anything special. I just found the two of you when you were lost in the forest, and brought you here.”

“T-Thank you very much. You saved us. We are……”

“Don’t worry about it. I only did what was natural. Actually, you were lucky that it was I who found you. If you had been found by ordinary people, I’m sure the situation would have taken a turn or the worse.”

“Eh……”

Saying that, the woman pointed her finger at Shouko’s eye.

Taking her meaning, Shouko immediately let out a startled cry.

The flames of the Shii were still gushing out of her left eye.

In Ante Lande, the Shii were the enemy of mankind.

If the people of this world found a person who carried the flames that were a symbol of the Shii within their own body, it would not be surprising if that person was lynched on the spot.

However, this woman had not done that. What was the reason for that?

“My name is Catalina Yostern. Have you heard that name before?”

“N-No…”

Seeing Shouko shake her head, the woman gave a wry smile.

“I see. The boy didn’t know who I was either. It’s a pity, I’m actually pretty famous, you know?”

“I-I’m sorry, we are… I mean…”

Shouko was worried that she had hurt that woman’s feelings and started to apologize, but the woman who called herself Catalina cut her off.

“The two of you are from 『Japan』, isn’t that right?”

“……!”

Shouko was so shocked that she forgot to speak.

That’s right. She had felt that something was strange.

She had not met Catalina before. She was sure of that.

And this place was obviously not on Earth.

Despite that, she had been conversing with Catalina in 『Japanese』.

“Did… he tell you that?”

“Yes, he did. However I knew it the moment I saw his face. Although, it seemed like he was intent on saving you and didn’t find it strange that I was speaking to him in Japanese.”

Catalina looked at Yasuo who was still fast asleep in the chair and smiled.

“I couldn’t believe it. It was the face of a person whom I thought I would never meet again.”

“What do you mean…”

“Can you stand? You must be thirsty. I’m boiling some water right now. Come this way, and be careful not to wake the lad. There are sandals over there.”

Shouko’s headache had faded, so she obediently got out of bed as Catalina asked.

She saw that there was a pair of simple sandals at the foot of the bed, and she put them on.

The adjacent room was larger than the room that Shouko had been sleeping in, but there were a number of objects in the room that were covered with cloth.

“This place is my private workshop.”

“Are you a painter?”

“Well, yes, I suppose I am. So I would be glad if you are surprised after seeing this.”

Catalina hung the lantern from a hook on the wall, raised her palm towards the ceiling, and created a sphere that gave off a faint light.

Even Shouko was able to understand that it was a magic meant to illuminate the room, but compared to the shock she experienced in the next moment, it was a trivial thing.

There was a single painting hanging on the wall that was illuminated by Catalina’s magic.

It was a portrait of a young swordsman who was holding a beautiful sword.

However, Shouko’s eyes were riveted on the face of that man.

“Yasu-kun… A painting… of Yasu-kun?”

The face of the young swordsman in that painting was definitely Yasuo’s, there was no doubt about it.

“During the war with Demon King Kaul, I went on a journey to convey the situation in various parts of the world to the people through my paintings.”

Catalina spoke while looking up at the painting of the young swordsman who looked like Yasuo.

“I met him at a range of mountains that runs through the Baskelgarde Federation. He was with his companions, in the middle of his journey to save the world that was being consumed by the forces of Demon King Kaul.”

“……T-That means…”

“Yes.”

Catalina nodded.

“I have met him before. The man whom that boy seems to be an identical replica of.”

There was no need to ask who she was talking about.

“The Hero, Hideo Kenzaki. I think that Erijina Radagast and Alexei Krone might be the only people in the world who remember his features of that boy’s father better than me. The painting of his father that I painted has now been designated as a national treasure of Resteria. Due to that, I became quite famous and I am now able to live a leisurely life like this while pursuing the art of painting that I love.”

The traveling painter, Catalina Yostern.

In the past, she had traveled all over the world, and her painting of the Hero, Hideo, called 『The Hero, Hideo, gazes upon the sunrise at the Sacred Mountain』 that she had painted when she met him in the mountainous region of Baskelgarde was one of the most famous paintings in the world.