Sitting on Top of the Gate

A pale-blue autumn sky.

Below it stretches Zamago Forest, dyed a brilliant red with autumn leaves.

In the center of my vision, that forest is split exactly in two.

Why? Because there's a road.

Because we made a road.

<This base, too, has changed so quickly in just a few months......>

Omake-sama speaks to me as I space out, watching the merchants and adventurers coming and going below my feet.

<When Emi and that man met, there was really nothing around here; it was just forest.>

So true.

I find myself getting all sentimental too.

This place the old man and I cleared and started living in.

The perverted old geezer came, Fairly Blond and the others came.

A house got built, a defensive wall got built, a road got built.

And at last this base has grown big enough that people come from outside.

It's enough to bring a tear to my eye.

No, two tears.

Three tears.

That's way too much salt.

<I don't think tears count toward your salt intake, though.>

Now, the place where I'm sitting...... is on top of our base's gate.

This gate, naturally, isn't built for people to climb to the top, so unless you're someone like me, who can walk on walls or jump really high, you can't get up here.

In other words, this is my special seat.

I've always liked sitting here, quietly watching the people going in and out of the base.

I guess it's partly to keep watch for weirdos coming in, but really, it's more like a hobby for my breaks.

If you're wondering why I do this sneakily on top of the gate instead of standing in front of it like a gatekeeper, well, it's my own way of being considerate.

I have black hair and black eyes.

I am a cursed child.

The old man and the others don't mind that at all and treat me as a comrade, but merchants and adventurers from the outside are different.

They still call me creepy, ominous.

And if the base gets spoken ill of because of me, it would be sad for the old man and the others, who worked so hard to build this place.

That's why lately, I hide my presence, pull my hood low, and basically live my life hidden from view.

The old man and the others tell me not to worry about stuff like that, but I'm fine with this.

Just watching people without being noticed.

This much distance is just right.

I gaze absently at a group of merchants who've just gone out the gate.

Two merchants, three guards.

I wonder if they got to buy the smoked meat.

Maybe they traded herbs, too.

Imagining things like that, I keep watching them as they grow smaller and smaller.

............Hm?

<What is it, Emi?>

Yeah, see?

Just now, in the shadow of a tree at the edge of the road, see?

I think I saw, like, a dark figure......?

“Miiiss! Miiiss, where are youuu!?”

Hm?

Someone is looking for me.

No, not just someone—that voice is Modokin's.

When I peer down into the base, there's a grubby man near the gate, looking every which way for me.

With one hop, I land silently behind Modokin.

“What?”

“WHOA!? You scared meee!?”

Modokin shouted in surprise, and his legs gave out.

Way too surprised.

“I'm asking, what do you want? Scaredy Dirty Shaggy.”

“Ugh, my nickname's gotten even more miserable. That's cruel......”

“Hurry, tell me, what you want.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that...... up we go.”

Modokin hopped nimbly to his feet and slapped the dirt off his backside.

“The perverted old geezer and them are calling for you, Miss. Will you come with me to the meeting room?”

“............Why?”

“Dunno. I was passing the room, they called out and asked me to fetch you, and that's all I did, y'know.”

“......Errand-Boy Scaredy Dirty Shaggy.”

“Quit it...... Quit making my nickname longer and longer......”

The “meeting room” mentioned just now is a big room inside the Adventurers' Guild branch office building the perverted old geezer made.

The old man and the others often use that room when finalizing business deals.

So what's this about, I wonder? Are they in the middle of a deal?

But if so, wouldn't it be better if I didn't go?

<There's no need to overthink it. You're being called, so shouldn't you just go?>

I'd been tilting my head for a while, but Omake-sama's words make me think, well, she has a point.

I started walking toward the branch office.

......By then, I had already completely forgotten about the figure.