Three days after I summoned him, Kōhaku had finally been released from fluff-hell and could live normally? — and he wanted to see the town, so I went along.
We left the inn and walked the main street. Market first, maybe. Lots of different folks there.
The market had stalls and people who’d laid out all kinds of goods. From food to dry goods, clothes to antiques, the variety was wide. I walked through the crowd, eyes on the wares, half-checking for something good.
«Quite the bustle.»
«Town center, basically. If you want anything cheap, you come here.»
Kōhaku and I were talking in voices no one else could hear. Summon and summoner — we could communicate by intent to a degree. If I were chatting with a tiger in the middle of town, people’d think I’d lost it.
Even in his cub form, Kōhaku is a tiger. He stood out, naturally. But people watched from a distance, treated it like a rare-thing-spotting, no overpanic. Once in a great while, kids and girls came over to pet his head.
In public, he was acting the part of a tiger cub, so when Kōhaku gave a gau-gau, the girls were delighted and petted more. Kōhaku looked thoroughly fed up. Just freed from our girls and now this — bad luck.
Lots of people, though… Have to not get separated. Even if Kōhaku and I get split up we can still talk, so I’d find him fast — fine.
Even so, weaving through the crowd looked tough on Kōhaku. Pitiful if he got kicked, so I scooped him up and tucked him in my arm. He demurred at first, but eventually settled.
As I walked on, the Kōhaku in my arm suddenly raised his head, turning to face the right side of the crowd.
«? Master, isn’t that Yae-dono over there?»
«Eh?»
I followed his glance. At the side of the street, out of the way of foot traffic, Yae was crouching. In front of her was a four-or-so-year-old girl bawling her eyes out. Yae looked to be doing her best to soothe her.
“What’re you doing? Yae.”
“Lord Touya? Kōhaku is along too, I see.”
The moment she saw our faces, Yae looked somehow relieved. What — that face on Yae is rare.
”…Who’s the kid?”
“Apparently — a lost child, indeed.”
Lost child, huh. In a crowd this thick, you would get separated. I looked around as I thought it. Finding the parents is going to be a chore.
“Hey there, what’s your name?”
“Ugh… wha-aa… Mommyyyy…”
No good. Names are not on the table. Until she stops crying we can’t ask anything.
“I have asked her name and where she came from already, indeed, but she will answer none of it.”
Yae sighed, troubled. Mm — got to extract some info somehow.
I brought Kōhaku, in my arms, around to the front of the girl. She flinched for a second, then her face crumpled like she was about to cry again. In my mind, I gave Kōhaku an order.
“What’s your name?”
Kōhaku addressed the girl. The girl who’d been on the verge of tears blinked, eyes wide on the tiger cub. Blinking and blinking — bewildered.
“Your name?”
”…Rim…”
“I see. Rim, then.”
Rim gave a small nod at Kōhaku’s question. Yes — Kōhaku-bait, success. Of course she’s stunned — a tiger cub started talking. Now then. Let’s check.
“Search: Rim’s family.”
I triggered Null spell [Search]. Anything within fifty meters should respond. …No reaction. Not nearby?
“How was it, indeed?”
“No good. At least — not within a fifty-meter radius.”
Mmm — what to do. Walk her around with [Search] running? The narrow range is the catch with [Search].
Wait — hold on. I can’t just look at random people and judge them as Rim’s family. Maybe it makes sense it doesn’t catch. Whether it’s “no hit” or “really not there” — telling those apart is also the spell’s catch. I don’t know what the criterion is.
The poison search worked. I didn’t know what poison was — but if I’d licked it and nearly died, I’d recognize it as poison, and so it caught? The vanilla too — if I’d smelled it I could recognize it as vanilla, so it caught… something like that.
A person, even the person themselves, could lie “no, that’s not me” — and we couldn’t judge.
Let me get more details.
“Who did you come here with?”
”…Mommy.”
“Your mother — what color clothes was she wearing?”
“Uhmm… green clothes.”
I had Kōhaku question her, pulling Rim’s mother’s details out one by one. Long brown hair, green clothes, silver bracelet, blue eyes, not heavy. All right — image clear in my head. If I find someone matching from appearance, I can judge “maybe Rim’s mother.” One more time.
“Search: Rim’s mother.”
…No reaction. No good.
“How was it?”
I shook my head at Yae’s question. The narrow search range is really the bottleneck. If I had range like the smartphone’s map, this would be useful. If only someone could develop a [Search] app…
…Wait — hold on.
Map app and [Search]. Perhaps — let me try. I pulled out the smartphone.
“Enchant: Search.”
I enchanted the smartphone’s Map App with [Search]. Light from my fingertip vanished into the screen. Now then — how about that?
I opened the map app, displaying the area. Pulled the view out beyond the market to all of Reflet, and typed Rim’s mother. On screen, a single pin dropped, marking a location.
“Yes — success!”
At my sudden shout, Rim — clutching Kōhaku — flinched again, but didn’t cry.
I stood and gave Rim’s head a light pat.
“Let’s go to your mom, all right?”
“Mooommyyy!!”
“Rim!”
Watching the mother and child reunited after several hours, I felt a hard-to-name wash of something. Rim’s mother had been at the town watch’s station — like a police box. She could’ve just brought her there from the start. Well, I got an unexpected dividend, so it’s fine.
Yae and I said our goodbyes — to the bowing mother, to the waving Rim — and left.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“Yae, there’s something I want to test — got a minute?”
”? Don’t mind, indeed…?”
I brought Yae to Aer-san’s café Parento, placed an order, and started peppering her with questions.
About Yae’s home. The exterior, the room layout, the dojo’s interior — I went into detail. They had a dog. There was a cherry tree in the garden. There were sibling height-marks scratched into a pillar.
Once I’d gotten the picture, I queried Yae’s house in the map app. A pin dropped on the eastern edge of the continent — somewhere in Eashen.
I zoomed in. Eashen, Oedo. East of that… Hashiba?
“Yae’s hometown — would it be in Hashiba near Oedo? There’s a shrine nearby.”
“Indeed, but — how do you know that, indeed!?”
Yae stared at me, startled. Yes — looks like it worked. This Search-app can find things on a global scale. Useful. You have to know your target in detail, though, or you can’t narrow it down.
When I explained to Yae, she asked me to try searching for her brother. She gave me his particulars. Apparently he had a scar on his cheek, so it was easy to look up.
“At the dojo. Moving around in a tight space — sparring, maybe?”
“Truly Brother, indeed.”
Yae smiled, looking at the smartphone I handed her.
“Brother is normally calm, but on the matter of the sword he loses himself, indeed. He genuinely loves the sword — used to forget meals, indeed.”
Yae spoke of her brother fondly. Her gaze on the moving pin had a wistful warmth.
“Yae really loves her brother, doesn’t she.”
”…That is so. Strong, kind, good-hearted Brother — yes, I love him very much, indeed.”
One look, you can see it. How much Yae cherishes her brother.
“Come to think of it — Lord Touya somewhat resembles Brother, indeed. The calm. The good-hearted side.”
“An honor to be likened to your beloved brother.”
I drank from my water glass, wry. I’m not strong with a sword like her brother. Personality, then, presumably.
“Indeed — my beloved…”
And there Yae’s murmuring stopped. As I lifted my face and our eyes met, hers went fire-red and she suddenly began to fluster.
“Th-that is not it, indeed!? I-I meant Lord Touya and Brother are similar, indeed — I did not mean love in the same way, no — not that I dislike — uh — Brother is family, yes, family, indeed! Family-like love… love!? So — so, that is not what I meant, indeed!?”
Yae rattled it out in one breath. No idea why she’s panicking like that. Loving your brother is good, I’d think.
“Sorry for the wait!”
A heap of light meals (most ordered by Yae) was brought over, and Yae — face still red — wouldn’t meet my eye and silently, voraciously, started in. Eats well, as ever…
Maybe she got embarrassed about saying she loves her brother. I’ll keep the brother-complex suspicion to myself.