The Larks Take Flight by Mamare Touno

Author:Mamare Touno [Touno, Mamare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Light Novel
Publisher: Yen On
Published: 2020-02-19T00:00:00+00:00

“Here, Mademoiselle Isuzu.”

“Uh-huh.”

Isuzu, who was feeling a little repentant, took a swallow of the water Rundelhaus had drawn from the well. This village was located to the south of Sacred Mount Fuji, and at night in early March, its well water was so incredibly cold that it made her temples ache.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heeeh.”

Feeling entertained, Isuzu slumped over onto the wooden table that had been set on the terrace. Her cheek was pressed against the wood, and it was chilly, but her body was flushed, and it felt nice. Rundelhaus had pulled over another chair and sat down, and having him nearby felt good, too.

Still sprawled over the table, she looked at the back garden.

Even if this was a town, unlike in Akiba, the houses weren’t crowded close together. Some structures made use of ruined buildings, but there weren’t many of them in Saphir; the Noble Mountain Snowdrop was about the only one.

Nearly all of the rest were wooden, single-story buildings, and ample space had been left between the houses. They had things that corresponded to yards and hedges, but in terms of scale, it seemed better to call most of them vegetable gardens and stands of mixed trees.

This back garden, no exception to the rule, held a kitchen garden and an untended space where wildflowers bloomed, a large well, a shed for livestock, and a grove of trees. The orange light that bled from the tavern’s open back door and the moonlight that streamed down from above gently illuminated the nocturnal landscape, which would otherwise have been pitch-black.

She wasn’t sleepy, but when she closed her eyes—just for a moment—the world seemed to spin, and she felt exhilarated. She didn’t feel the cold as much as she’d expected; wondering if it was because the wind wasn’t very strong, she opened her eyes a crack and saw Rundelhaus, raking his bangs up with his fingers as if they were a nuisance. He’d wrapped himself in his mantle, and he was sitting upwind from Isuzu.

Their eyes met, and Isuzu suddenly felt embarrassed.

Ordinarily, it was nothing at all, but every now and then, she’d start to feel this way. Still, it was probably just his puppy-dog magic. Pretending not to notice it, she lightly kicked Rundelhaus’s chair with her toes.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Really?”

“Yep, mm-hm.”

“That was a good show today.”

After the gig—

An outdated phrase rose to her lips.

The party was over, it was after the gig, and all the heat that had been packed into Isuzu’s body was unraveling into the night. It was a melancholy, lonely feeling, but it wasn’t unpleasant. She’d been in high spirits for today’s show, but it had ended. All gigs ended. That was certainly sad, but this interval existed so that they could begin the next one.

She could hear the sound of Rundelhaus’s gentle breathing.

Isuzu’s belly was full. Both her stomach and her heart were full.

“‘Today too,’ you mean.”

“Yes, today too.”

There was a wry smile in Rundelhaus’s voice, and Isuzu closed her eyes again. She spread her arms out, hugging the table.

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