#1144 Co-Villagers

Tomia.
…Wow, how many decades has it been since someone last called me by that name?

When I still lived in my hometown, that’s what everyone called me.
But once I started working at the brothel and was given the stage name Rita-Shiera, I practically forgot it ever existed.

“…………”
“Uh… did I get it wrong?”
“?! No! I mean...no, you didn’t!”

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that Tomia is, in fact, me. That much isn’t wrong at all…

“…It’s been such a long time. I never imagined we’d meet again.”

Yes.
The man standing before me is the friend I used to play with when I was just a little girl.

Mac...that’s all I remember.
His nickname. I can’t recall his real name. That’s how simple our relationship was back then…just a childhood memory.

“…Right, you always called me Mac, Tomia. Never anything else.”
“S-Sorry…!”
“Nah, don’t be. We were kids. But there’s something I need to apologize for, too…”

Huh?

What was it?

“It’s about that little handmade doll you treasured. I pulled a prank and broke it, remember? You cried harder than I expected, and it freaked me out… I figured I’d say sorry the next day, but my old man dragged me out to gather firewood. Then we ended up helping with the hunt, stayed in the mountains for days…and by the time we got back...”

I was gone.

While he was away, a broker from the brothel came to my house and took me away.

Now I remember.
I said I wanted to say goodbye to Mac, but my family told me, “He’s in the mountains; he’s not here.”

“I completely forgot about that doll. It was just a scrappy thing I made out of acorns and sticks, but it was my only toy, my only treasure…”
“I really am sorry…!”
“It’s fine. It’s not like it was your fault you never got to apologize.”

Looking back, the fact that the broker showed up right when Mac was stuck in the mountains…it wasn’t a coincidence, was it?

His parents must’ve known in advance who’d be arriving that day.
If a child saw a good friend being taken away by strangers, they’d be confused. Might even throw a fit.
And if they decided to accuse the broker of kidnapping and put up a real fight…that would bring a whole mess of trouble.

“Maybe your parents made sure you wouldn’t be in the village when it happened and kept you away so you wouldn’t have to face something so cruel. Even if they had to force a flimsy excuse.”
“Yeah…that sounds about right. Come to think of it, there were other kids who weren’t allowed outside that day.”

Some parents likely told their kids to stay put in the house, while others, like Mac’s, sent them out of the village entirely.
I imagine that deciding to give up a child for the sake of reducing mouths to feed wasn’t easy for anyone.... It’s something you only truly grasp once you’re grown.

“Anyway, things were never the same with me and my folks after that. The year after you disappeared, I ran away on my own. Haven’t been back since.”
“I see…”

Even after I was taken away, the bad harvests continued throughout the Human Kingdom, so the villages must have had to cut back on mouths to feed again and again.

It might’ve been convenient for the village that he left, too.
…Though I guess that’s a bit too cynical of me.

“So, after you ran away, what did you do?”
“A bit of everything. Carrying cargo, running errands, shining shoes…turns out I’m the kind of guy who can’t just keep his head down and do steady work. I always ended up quitting halfway, and before I knew it, I was surviving on petty theft.”
“My, my…”
“But one day, someone said this to me: ‘Keep this up, and you’ll either become some real piece of scum or get yourself strung up on the gallows. If you don’t like either option, there’s one last path you can take.’ And that path was joining a mercenary band.”

A mercenary?
Not an adventurer?

“If I’d been found by an adventurer, maybe I’d have become one. But this guy was recruiting for his mercenary unit. He was scouting the slums, picked a few of us up.”

Mac, a mercenary…
Well, thinking back, he was kind of the little ringleader in our village, so I guess it fits.

“Street thug or mercenary, they’re pretty similar in a lot of ways. But the biggest difference is that a mercenary is recognized by law. That alone lets you live with at least a little dignity. Plenty of guys in the unit clung to that for salvation.”
“I understand. I had mercenary clients at my place who’d tell me bedtime stories about stuff like that.”
“Bedtime stories?”
“Ah, um…!”

Pull yourself together, Rita-Shiera.
No matter how I try to dodge it, the truth won’t change.

“…I’m a courtesan. That broker who took me from the village brought me to a high-end brothel in the royal capital. After I finished my training, I was…initiated. And I’ve been working there ever since.”
“I see…sounds like you’ve had it rough, too.”
“Aren’t you disappointed? The girl you used to play with…grew up to sell her body for a living.”
“What are you talking about? In my mercenary band, we used to sing this little tune every day:”

— “We’re in the world’s second-oldest trade. Anyone not a courtesan is our junior, so show some respect!”

“…Something like that.”
“They say prostitution is the world’s oldest profession, and mercenary work is the second oldest. I guess we all start by selling ourselves in one way or another.”

I’ve heard that before.
Whenever someone made fun of me for being a courtesan, I was told to throw that line right back at them.

“Hey, look at those two, all caught up in their own conversation.”
“Leave them be, Dear. Let’s not interrupt.”

I hear voices whispering nearby, but I don’t pay them any mind.
I keep talking with Mac.

“So, I’ve been making a living as a mercenary for a good while now, but once the war ended, I was out of a job.”

The Human-Demon War is over, so of course mercenaries aren’t as in demand.
A few might get hired as reserve forces in some territory, but the rest have to find new work.

“I heard most end up switching to adventuring. Is that what you did as well?”
“Basically, yeah. I was trying my luck as an adventurer when I heard about this land development project. I decided to give it a shot.”

I see… How surprising.
We parted ways as kids, and somehow, we’ve ended up reuniting in a place like this.

“…Oh, but are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“What do you mean?”

Just now, you said you’re bad at quiet, patient work.
And land development is basically the most patient, tedious job there is. Aren’t you worried it won’t suit you?

When I ask him that, Mac replies:

“I’m not a kid anymore. I’ve had plenty of chances to knock some sense into myself over the years. My old mercenary captain taught me not just how to fight, but proper manners, how to stay righteous, and how to keep my chin up when life gets hard…lots of lessons.”

He says he’s still standing here today because of it.

“So yeah, I’ve managed to stick with the kind of steady, day-by-day work I never could do before. Chopping trees, leveling the ground… Sure, it’s not glamorous, but seeing the results so clearly is actually kind of fun.”
“Wow…you’ve really grown.”

The tactless brat Mac used to be now practically shines in my eyes.

He’s had his share of hardships, too, and it’s all brought him here.

“Enough about me, Tomia, what about you?”
“Me?”
“You’ve been working as a courtesan, right? You must’ve been through a lot. But I never heard a single rumor about you. And, well, I’ve, uh…used a courtesan or two in my time…!”

…
Of course.
A mercenary who never once visited a brothel would be rare indeed.

“I wouldn’t use my real name on the job, obviously. We all get stage names after our initiation. It’s a way of cutting ourselves off from the lives we knew.”
“That makes sense…!”
 “Besides, I was number one in the royal capital. To spend the night with me, you’d need a fortune. Were you really rolling in that much gold?”
“Figured as much… That explains why we never crossed paths…”

Mac rubs his nose, embarrassed.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of. A mercenary’s glory is surviving to fight another day.
Some of them who used to come see me suddenly stopped showing up, and I never bothered to find out why.
Maybe they just got bored of me…or maybe not.

“You fought in a brutal occupation and came out alive. Hold your head high.”
“Hah… Hearing that from you kinda makes me blush... Anyway, how about you?”

Me?

“Are you…still working as a courtesan? Is that why you came out here…?”

He looks oddly conflicted.
Like he’s swallowing some heavy emotion he can’t put into words.

“…I’ve retired.”
“What?”
“In this line of work, your prime years go by fast. Surely you can guess that much. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be shipped off to a backwater place like this.”
“Ah…yeah, that makes sense. Hah…ha…”
“What’s with that face? Disappointed you never got the chance to hire me?”
“No- I mean, maybe... I mean…!”

He’s just as flustered as I was earlier.

Funny how things turn out.
The landowner said they weren’t looking for courtesans but for marriage partners instead.
At first, I thought that was insane. Now, though, I’m oddly grateful.

I didn’t expect to feel this sentimental. I guess hearing my old name brought back all my old feelings, too.

“All right, sounds like you two are hitting it off! Let’s get this King’s Game started...!”
“Stay put, Dear.”