The instant he learned who the man sitting opposite them was, Turan quickly seized Maysa's hand and squeezed it tight. She had instinctively begun to turn toward him, but her body went rigid.

'At least it's a relief that Solif himself isn't here.'

They had introduced Solif upon arrival as a porter who had once been a wandering knight, so he was resting in the servants' quarters and looking after Vije. Judging by their first encounter, Solif was a reasonably good actor, but he was unlikely to maintain his composure upon suddenly coming face-to-face with his father.

"Mr. Godis, this is young Turan and Miss Misha, whom I told you about. What a coincidence that you should meet them now."

"I am Godis Baraha. In the name of the sun, may boundless glory be bestowed upon you both."

After delivering his greeting in an old-fashioned manner, Godis regarded Turan and Maysa through half-lidded eyes. His gaze was unmistakably searching.

"On that subject, young Turan, do you happen to know which house that man Sol, who was traveling with you then, belongs to? I didn't realize it at the time, but it turns out he looks exactly like that Baraha heir we discussed."

"I'm afraid I don't know either. We actually parted ways not long after leaving the hot springs."

"Oh dear. There you have it, Mr. Godis. My condolences."

At this, Godis fixed his sunken eyes on Turan and posed another question.

"Your name was Turan, correct?"

"Yes."

"Did you perhaps wipe out a band of pirates in the South Sea recently?"

"I did. I can't quite recall their name, but I found a bunch who had the gall to abduct people and force them to work, so I dealt with them."

Then, as though something had slipped his mind, Turan added,

"Come to think of it, I did run into him then. The pirates had bases on three islands. I was dealing with them one by one, but when I reached the last island, he had already taken out all their officers."

This was a story Turan had invented on the spot: he had gone to wipe out the Covinus Pirates, encountered Solif after the latter had dealt with the Baraha nobles on his own, then merely traveled with him a little while before parting ways.

'Of course, this won't dispel his suspicions entirely...'

Still, simply casting doubt on whether Turan had actually clashed with the Baraha nobles would be a worthwhile gain.

"I see... Did this Sol happen to mention where he was going?"

"He said he was heading west. Something about hearing of the Sky Mountains and wanting to see what lay beyond them, I believe."

Solif had actually said he wanted to go there, so it wasn't a lie. Not that the man would likely take it seriously.

"Are the two of you traveling alone now?"

"We recently took on a servant who used to be a wandering knight. He's a diligent porter."

Since quite a few people had already seen Solif on their way in, Turan spoke calmly, as though mentioning it in passing. At this, Godis's eyes widened.

"Might I meet this servant?"

As expected, he seemed to suspect a disguise using the Mimic god's mask. He did not dismiss the possibility of Baraha's heir working as a porter—presumably because, as Solif's father, he knew his son's temperament well.

Turan was about to refuse with a show of displeasure when Lida clapped her hands lightly to draw their attention.

"Now, Mr. Godis! I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I would like a chance to speak with my old friends. If you would give us—"

"Grand Madam, I still have business with these young people."

Perhaps he thought he had found a lead in the fact that the suspected Solif among the three had been replaced by a servant. Somewhat agitated, Godis cut Lida off. There was barely time to frown at his rudeness before an icy voice chilled the reception room.

"Listen here, Baraha."

Despite her youthful face, Lida usually had the languid air of someone who had seen everything life had to offer. Now, however, she glared at Godis with a coldness Turan had never seen before.

"I welcomed you as my guest and have treated you generously for weeks, yet you would interfere even with my reunion with dear old friends. Indeed, you appear ready to interrogate them."

"I merely—"

"I showed you courtesy as an elder should, though you're younger than my grandchildren. Has that made me a joke to you?!"

With her shout, her pipe snapped and fell onto the tiger skin.

CRACK!

Faced with her ferocity, Godis excused himself and left the reception room. Only then did Lida let out a deep sigh.

"What a tiresome man. I'm sorry, young Turan, Miss Misha. I invited you here as guests only to subject you to that unpleasantness."

"He seems suspicious of my servant. I'm worried he might seek him out and try to hurt him."

"If he does any such thing, I assure you he will not leave Merem alive. He would not dare do that to me."

It was an unusually fierce response from the normally gentle Lida. Solif's father seemed to have angered her considerably. She lightly rang a bell beside her to summon someone, then ordered them to stop Godis if he tried to seek out the party's servant.

"When did he arrive?"

"A little over two weeks ago, I believe."

Then Lida adopted a somewhat apologetic expression.

"When I returned home and saw the portrait, it was the spitting image of your companion, so I told my family about it as an amusing anecdote. And wouldn't you know it, one of my grandchildren reported it to Baraha to get a magic tool."

Come to think of it, hadn't they offered a fairly decent magic tool just for information on Solif's whereabouts? It would mean little to someone like Lida, but it was certainly tempting enough for a young noble.

"So that's what happened..."

"I must apologize again for causing you needless trouble. I gave the child a thorough scolding, so please forgive us."

"There's nothing to forgive. It's not as though I asked you to keep it secret."

Since he had come seeking a favor, Turan graciously accepted her apology.

* * *

After easing the mood with some small talk and catching up, Turan finally raised the reason for their visit: his companion Maysa, whom they currently knew by the alias Misha, had been gravely injured, and he wanted to entrust her treatment to Lida.

"Hmm? Where are you hurt? You look perfectly well on the outside... No, in fact, you look better than before. You were far too thin then, but you're much better now. Though you could still stand to put on more weight."

To a grandmother, any young person short of seriously obese tended to look far too skinny. Maysa smiled awkwardly at Lida's words and lifted her clothes slightly to reveal the severing wound below her waist.

Lida's eyes widened in shock at the dreadful sight.

"What is this?"

"She was injured hunting a powerful monster recently. We treated her as quickly as we could, but as you can see, she's in bad shape."

"Goodness... If it could leave nobles of your caliber so badly hurt, it must have been stronger than Aicul."

Turan briefly imagined Aicul fighting the great sea serpent. The Monkey King was undoubtedly formidable, with mana in the middle of the top-ranking range, on par with Solif before he absorbed the serpent's mana. Against that beast, however, he would likely have been able to do little.

"It was."

"Still, I'm glad it isn't a difficult favor. Ordinarily, of course, enlisting a Healer of my caliber would require enough gold and jewels to fill a room. But since I owe you an apology, I'll do it for free."

At Lida's playful show of generosity, Maysa bowed her head respectfully in thanks.

"Thank you for your help, Lady Lida."

"Oh, it's nothing. Now, let's take care of this right—"

Lida had barely placed her hand on Maysa's belly and begun drawing on her mana when her expression changed. She stepped back as though startled and murmured,

"Miss Misha—no, just who are you...?"

"I meant to mention this first, but Misha is rather exceptionally strong. That's why we came to you."

Lida glanced doubtfully between Maysa and Turan, then gave a low groan. She was probably trying to recall a noble of a great house whose appearance matched Maysa's, but apparently none came to mind.

"I thought so before, but you truly are a young man of many secrets."

"May we still ask for your help?"

"Let me take another look."

Fortunately, rather than probing further, Lida began examining Maysa's wound again. Unlike her earlier casual attempt at treatment, this time she had Maysa lift her top halfway up and felt all around the injury. Turan politely turned his head away.

"Oh dear."

"Is it very bad?"

"Bad might not be the word. The inside is a mess from being clumsily joined with insufficient healing power. No wonder you carried her in earlier. Her legs won't move."

According to Lida, Maysa's insides had quite literally been patched together. Her organs and blood vessels were at least roughly aligned, but her bones, nerves, and muscles had simply been joined any which way.

This was due not only to the overly crude way the wound had been joined after her injury, but also to the restorative-potion magic tool being far too low-grade for someone of Maysa's caliber. Correcting a wound that had healed so haphazardly required even more powerful healing magic than ordinary treatment.

"Then..."

"I'm afraid our House Head will have to intervene personally to repair this."

He was the only one who could bring overwhelming healing power to bear on Maysa, whose strength had grown comparable to that of most great-house heads.

"If we need the House Head's help, I imagine it won't be free."

"Certainly not. In fact, I doubt it would be possible at any price. Even the House Head would have to expend a tremendous amount of power to forcibly repair a wound like this."

The heads of wizard houses rarely left their main houses because they needed to protect their houses and retainers against unexpected attacks. Of course, a house without enemies such as Ravista could afford a brief hot-spring trip like the last one, but even then, its head had to avoid expending too much power.

"There is another way, though."

"Would you tell us?"

"Healing a fresh wound is easier than forcibly correcting one that has healed wrong."

Turan's and Maysa's faces stiffened as they understood her meaning. She was suggesting cutting Maysa in half at the waist once more, then reattaching her properly.

"Th-that's..."

The trembling in Maysa's voice alone made it clear how great her pain and terror had been. Yet she soon gritted her teeth and nodded.

"I'll... be all right. If that's what it takes to heal properly."

"What a brave young lady! Very well. I'll speak to the House Head myself."

"Would even that method be beyond your power, Lady Lida?"

"It would. With another part of the body, I could reattach it slowly, but I can hardly stop halfway through reattaching a severed waist for a rest, can I?"

She had a point. Turan nodded with a low groan.

With the method settled, they had to discuss payment. Had it required Lida's mana alone, she could have done it for free as a favor, but that was no longer possible with the House Head intervening personally.

"Have you prepared anything in payment?"

"Yes. We have considerable wealth."

There were the vast quantities of gold and silver he had mined on the island, of course. If that proved insufficient, he was also willing to make up the difference by handling a few troublesome tasks for them. Lida nodded at this.

"Understood. I'll mention it to the House Head today, then. When the child has some time, we can meet and discuss it together."

Pretending not to notice Lida's casual reference to the House Head as "the child," Turan carried Maysa out of the reception room. The person whose presence he had sensed outside for some time spoke to him.

"Mr. Turan."

It was none other than Solif's father, Godis Baraha. He had been waiting outside for Turan ever since leaving the reception room.

"If you're going to ask to meet my servant, I refuse. I suspect you'd only find some absurd pretext to cause trouble."

"Ah... I-in that case, would you at least accept this?"

Perhaps the earlier scolding had dampened his spirits. Rather than insist, Godis offered a letter. With both of Turan's arms occupied holding Maysa, she glanced at his face, then accepted it in his stead.

"If you ever encounter this Sol... the heir to Baraha again, I would ask that you show him that letter."

With those words, Godis walked away, his shoulders slumped. Apparently he truly had only meant to pass on the letter.

"There isn't anything strange about this letter, is there?"

"I don't sense anything, at least."

Just as he said, the Holy Relic's senses showed nothing but an ordinary letter without a trace of mana. A little later, upon returning to their allotted rooms, Turan's first act was to summon Solif and Vije from the servants' quarters.

"Well? Did the healing go all right? Hmm, judging by the look of things, I guess not."

"Apparently we'll need the House Head's help."

"Oof."

Solif groaned, evidently thinking of the cost at once, but swallowed what he had been about to say. He had noticed Maysa's expression darkening as she sat on the bed.

Turan used wind magic to seal off the air around their rooms, then broached the matter at hand.

"More importantly, there's something that concerns you."

"What?"

"Your father's here."

Solif's face twisted into a peculiar expression. It was closer to incredulity than fear, anger, or aversion.

"He is? Why on earth?!"

"It seems he's been enlisted as part of some search party following your trail. Just hearing that I had a servant made him suspect it was you, so be careful if you run into him. Better yet, avoid him altogether if you can."

"Oh, for... I'm not confident I could keep him from recognizing me if we met."

Solif rarely spoke of his parents, so Turan did not know exactly what sort of relationship he had with his father. From his tone, however, he did not seem to harbor much resentment.

"Your father also sent a letter."

"A letter?"

"He asked me to give it to you if we met."

Turan held out the letter he had just received. Solif unfolded it, his face growing solemn. A moment later, his expression began to twist.

"Damn it. I shouldn't have read it."

"Why?"

"Oh, the usual. Blaming me for everything..."

Solif held out the letter as if inviting him to read it, so Turan took it and read it with Maysa.

True to the manner Godis had displayed at their first meeting, his letter was so laden with archaic expressions that it was difficult to read. After studying it for some time, Maysa gave a short summary.

"To sum it up... Your mother is grieving because you ran away. Did you fight and kill the house's elite force sent to bring you back? If so, return and repent. The House Head has promised to forgive all your sins. That sort of thing."

"Forgiveness, my ass. After putting out a wanted notice?"

As he read the letter, letting Solif's grumbling pass him by, Turan narrowed his eyes at something odd. A few sentences and spaces seemed subtly out of place.

"Hmm..."

"What?"

"It's just that this part here looks a little strange."

"Let me see... Oh!"

Maysa gave a cry as she examined the part Turan indicated.

"Starting here, if you read diagonally two characters at a time, it forms another sentence. I used to do this with my mother."

"What does it say?"

In answer to Solif's question, Maysa traced a line with her finger and read the letters.

"Do not... ever... come... back."