A new phase was starting between the two as they left, their hands locked tightly like the gears of a clock. She saw them off as she thought that, then began thinking what inn she should use and other common thoughts like that as she sat down again.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but she felt like the seats were more empty now as she glanced out the window. Emilio’s confession and how his feelings were replied to kept replaying in her mind, making her think how sometimes scenes directly out of a TV drama could happen in reality.
Reminded how this was reality now, and that everyone here were leading actual lives, Mira looked down at her slender hands, touching them to let the feeling confirm she was alive, then deciding to print every story, past and present, into her mind.
As the departure time approached, the train became filled again, two new people sitting in front of her. One of them was an experienced adventurer, accompanied by a complete novice one. The beginner looked out the window and reacted excitedly seeing everything from a high viewpoint, but the experienced one scolded him and said to not cause a ruckus, then apologized to Mira, but she replied that she did not mind and then exchanged a few more casual lines.
When the train departed, the scenery stretching out far away from the window began panning by. The green grass spread out as well, seemingly dissolving into the blue sky far in the horizon, drawing a fragment of a transparent rainbow there.
Two nights from then, Mira arrived at the Silver Side station, which was the closest one to Lunatic Lake.
There she stayed one night at the Starry Night Manor inn, which was more expensive than the average inn, but it was Mira’s favorite. The next morning the broadcast announcing the state of the trains rang. Mira was still fast asleep, and since she had just gotten back, she found the noise too bothersome so she hugged her blanket and returned to the world of her dreams.
After repeating the same process for at least three times more, Mira finally crawled out of her bed and used her fingertip to tap the bell used for ordering breakfast, then began her late morning preparations.
The day’s breakfast was made up of dishes she was very familiar with, so she gladly chewed through it, then topped it off with a glass of green tea. With that done, she left her room.
「Thank you for your patronage.」
「Mm, thanks for having me.」
The receptionist lady had been the same each time she came there, so when Mira spoke to her, she gladly agreed to arrange her hair into cute twin tails, which dangled behind her as she left the establishment.
Mira was completely full of herself with how perfect she looked, but when summoning Pegasus she always looked for a place devoid of people. She was still looking around for a good place when-
「Excuse me. I presume you’re Danbulf’s pupil Mira, can you spare a few minutes?」
A man who was seemingly waiting for her in front of the inn called her as soon as he recognized her and came running.
「That is me indeed, but who are you?」
His appearance suggested he was still one step before entering his midlife, but he had slight wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, and when he bowed as he spoke earlier, the hair on the top of his head was thinning in a way reminiscing of a field with failed crops, so it was hard to determine his actual age. He wore a snappy butler’s suit, which was black just like his hair.
「I was about to explain that, but there’s a lot of people in these streets so shall we find a calmer place to talk first?」
Looking around, bothered by the crowded street, he suggested that. Since he was aware that Mira was a wiseman’s pupil, she figured he had something important to say so she nodded.
The two left the crowded main streets and walked until they were in a more secluded place where they faced each other again.
「Sorry for making you follow me all the way here, but I’ll answer your question now. I’m employed by a certain person, who happens to be a wiseman’s pupil just like you are. I have a letter to deliver to you, but basically it’s an invitation to meet together. The details are written on the letter, but I hope you can meet up with my master.」
The man claiming to be working for a wiseman’s pupil bowed as he said that.
「A wiseman’s pupil? Are you saying there’s another one apart from me? Then, whose pupil is he?」
After a glance at the man’s head, she asked that. From the information she had gathered so far, none of the wisemen had pupils, and even if there was one, Solomon was sure to have known about it. So Mira wondered who it could be as she stared daggers at the man.
「I’m terribly sorry. My master is incredibly reserved and dislikes using power to accomplish any means, so I can’t reveal either of their names. I know this is really rude, if you want to know more just read this.」
With that, the man took out a carefully sealed letter from his pocket and offered it to Mira.
「Hmm, I guess it’s someone who already retired then.」
Either way, she would know which wiseman it was once they met. And excited at the prospect of another pupil, or to be precise, the only pupil’s existence, Mira accepted the letter.
「If you’ll excuse me now.」
With those last words, the man bowed deeply before disappearing back into the crowd. Mira watched him go, then carelessly opened the letter there.
『Please excuse this sudden and ill-mannered letter.
When I heard there was another pupil just like me, I was unable to contain myself and decided to contact you.
Due to certain circumstances I cannot show myself in public.
I am deeply aware of how much of a nuisance this is, but I would love it if we could meet at the place detailed below.
Location: The abandoned garden on the southwest of Silver Side
I’ll be waiting for you there.』
The letter read like that. Mira returned it to its envelope and stashed it away in her waist pouch before taking out a map.
(Hmmmm, an abandoned garden, huh. According to the letter it should be somewhere around here…)
Back when she was in this world as a game, Silver Side did not exist, so she was unusually slow at grasping the city layout as she took guesses at the rough location of the garden.
(Either way, I wonder what kind of person it is. It would be nice if it could be a cute girl.)
If she was an actual pupil of a wiseman, then there was also a high possibility they would know where the missing wisemen could be. That they refused to show themselves in public still bugged her, but if it was true, then she might be able to kill two birds with one stone. Mira summoned Pegasus on a back alley, then mounting it flew towards the garden.
The abandoned garden was the ruins from a villa owned by a feudal lord, which once went through a phase of prosperity before it fell to ruin. Though it all happened even before the past Mira knew.
About ten minutes passed as she flew while keeping a close eye at the map. She arrived at a thin forest, with trees scattered like stubble. In the center of it, a fallen down mansion that was rotting.
The abandoned garden spread out behind it. Mira indicated Pegasus to slowly decrease the altitude until she landed on the backside of the mansion.
Pegasus brought its face closer to her as she petted it, then Mira finally looked around the garden.
Back when the place was in its prime, the garden would have looked splendid with all sorts of luxurious decorations, which would have been costly just to bring to such a remote location. But now the place had no resemblance to its former self, overgrown with unknown weeds that took the place for themselves and spread their roots even on the paved paths. Abandoned was a fitting adjective for the place.
「Now, where is it?」
