Dream Life Vol II Chapter 63.2: “Zack Quartet”

　When I return to my room, I am greeted by Mel with a big smile on her face, and Sharon Dan with equally big smiles.

　I say, “Thanks for the wait,” and then proceeded to give Mel and Dan their gifts.

“Here’s a souvenir for you two. It’s a cloak I had made by leather craftsmen in Doctus.” (Zack)

　As I handed it to them, I explained its performance, but Mel barely listened. She looked at the cloak as if embracing it, while Dan looked at the unusual pattern with wonder.

“Dan’s has a camouflage pattern, and I had it made that way so you would be less visible in the woods.” (Zack)

“It sure looks like leaves, but I think it stands out quite a bit. …Oh, I’m sorry. Thank you very much. I forgot to thank you because I was distracted by the unusual pattern…” (Dan)

　Dan apologized while scratching his head.

　I didn’t mind, so I said, “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go into the woods tomorrow and check it out. You should be fairly inconspicuous,” and laughed back.

　Meanwhile, Mel was looking at his cloak, scrutinizing it.

　I said, “I hope you like yours too, Mel,” and she came to herself turning red while saying, “Thank you very much, Master Zack,” realizing that she had forgotten to thank me.

　I said, “I have another souvenir for Mel,” and handed her the dress I had bought at Doctus.

“It probably won’t fit right, so have Polly, Mel’s mother, alter it for you.” (Zack)

　I handed her a bright blue, simply shaped dress. I was not sure of Mel’s size, so I consulted with Sharon and Liddy and bought a dress that was somewhat larger.

　After Mel opened the dress she received, she looked really happy.

　We waited until she had calmed down to a certain extent and talked about the events of the past year.

　As for me, I am a level twenty-six Swordsman with level of thirty in Sword Arts. As for magic, my wind attribute magic, which is my strongest, is at level thirty, and my fire attribute magic is at twenty-nine after the recent battle with the bandits.

　Sharon’s magic is now twenty-five for the wind attribute and twenty-four for the fire attribute.

　Then there’s Mel and Dan, Mel is a level twenty-six Swordsman, and her Sword Arts is level thirty-one. Dan had risen to level sixteen Swordsman with level twenty in Sword Arts, and also a level fifteen Archer with level eighteen Archery.

　They must have had less experience in actual combat than we did, but they had improved their levels almost as much as we had.

　I said, “You two are amazing. Sharon and I were in a forest full of monsters, but to raise your level this high in our peaceful village of Rathmore,” I had to praise the two of them.

　Mel, however, frowned slightly at the fact that the level difference in Swordsmen between her and me was gone. Then she looked down and said, “After all that hard work…”

　I looked over at Dan and decided to ask him what kind of training he had done.

“I asked my father to help me, and this past spring I spent a month holed up on Mount Schiehallion…” (Dan)

　When I asked him for more details, he told me that he had holed up in a small mountain called Mount Schiehallion, north of the village of Rathmore.

　Mount Schiehallion is a place where monsters are constantly coming in from the north and where the village patrol regularly goes to defeat them, and it is not a place where children should go. At first, Dan’s father, Guy Jakes, and Mel’s father, Hector Marlon, were with them, but after ten days, they were on their own.

　I was speechless when I heard this.

　Even though the village patrol is regularly hunting down the monsters, Mount Schiehallion is a dangerous place where monsters flow in from around the Karsh Pass, a difficult place with many monsters from the north.

　These are not small fry like goblins or wild dogs. The most dangerous ones are very dangerous, and even third-rank ogres appear.

“In a place like that… It would be dangerous with just the two of us.” (Zack)

　I said so, and Mel began to talk frantically.

“Because Master Zack goes to the forest… I heard from Mr. Guy that the forest north of Doctus has a lot of monsters and is the best place to improve your skills… So we thought of going in too… ” (Mel)

　Apparently, they heard I was in the forest of Doctus and felt impatient.

　I realize now that I wasn’t thinking about Mel and the others.

(Mel has been trying to catch up to me for ages. I know how much of a difference there is between us when she was right in front of me, so I’m not being so reckless. …This time it was my fault. I put my own level of improvement first and didn’t think about Mel. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to be badly hurt. If something had happened to her, I would have… Well, I don’t know what would have done…) (Zack)

　I started talking to Mel and Dan with a serious look on my face.

“It can’t be helped that the two of you have locked yourself in the mountain all alone, but don’t do anything dangerous like that. With me and Liddy around, we can heal a few injuries with healing magic. But with just the two of us, if we get hurt, our chances of survival are slim. Dan, you know what I mean.” (Zack)

　Dan nodded his head.

　I continued.

“Even hunters are deathly afraid of getting hurt in the woods. They don’t just fight monsters without measuring the risk. The risk of getting hurt when you’re holed up in the mountains hunting demons is nothing compared to the hunters. …… I understand why Mel is in such a hurry.  Please.

　I bow my head on the spot.

　Mel seems to say something, “Oh, um…”, but he can’t say anything.

　I raised my head and Dan apologized to me.

“I understand what Master Zack is saying. If I had been stronger… I could have stopped Mel.” (Dan)

“No, no, no! Dan stopped me. But I’m… sorry, I pushed him too hard. I’m sorry, Master Zack. I’m sorry, Master Zack. I’m… sorry…” (Mel)

　Mel apologizes to me, tears in her eyes.

　I patted her shoulder,

“You’re safe. You don’t have to apologize anymore. I should have thought more about both of you.” (Zack)

　Mel buries her face in my shoulder, sniffling and crying.

(I don’t know what to do… I don’t know if I can ask my grandfather. He’s a pretty do-what-you-want guy. Even if I am a child, if I said I’m going to go to the battlefield, he’ll say that there’s no problem, just as long as I do his hellish training… Even if I ask Father instead, I don’t think it’s going to be a good solution. I still think it’s probably best to keep Mel under my watchful eye…) (Zack)

“Mel, Dan, listen to me. Why don’t you come with me to Doctus? Mel will get reckless again if I’m gone. Then I’ll feel safer if you’re within my sight, or even Liddy’s, or both. What do you think?” (Zack)

　At my words, Mel looks up with a start. She stares at me with her red eyes wide open, but soon she hugs me with a happy expression on her face.

“Master Zack… are you sure you want us to join you?” (Mel)

　Mel mumbled, “I’m not going to get in the way of Master Zack’s studies… no, I’m not going to get in the way. But if I go…” she said in a distorted way.

“Of course, I need permission from Grandfather, Father, Hector, and Guy. So it’s not a decision yet. Keep that in mind.” (Zack)

　Mel had been crying earlier, but now she couldn’t have looked happier.

(I wonder if she was a girl whose expression changed this much. I feel like she changed a little while she was away from me… I can’t take my eyes off her because she’s emotionally unstable…) (Zack)

　Dan looked a little puzzled, but then quickly looked delighted,

“Am I good to go too? No, I want to go too! I want to be stronger too, and I want to see different places…” (Dan)

　I was slightly concerned at their enthusiasm.

“If you go with us, you will be separated from your family. Are you both prepared for that?” (Zack)

　The two of them answered in unison, “Yes!”

“I’ll be fine. Because there’s Sharon. If she can do it, I can too. …Sharon, I can do it too, right?” (Mel)

　Sharon nodded with a smile at Mel’s question.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Mel. It was lonely at first, but with Master Zack and Ms. Lydia there, I’m sure you’ll get used to it.” (Sharon)

　I looked at Dan, who, like any boy at the age of adventure, seemed to be thinking about the big city he had yet to see.

　I wondered if I had been too hasty, but then I remembered that we had planned to leave the village together someday.

(It pains me to take a twelve-year-old child away from his parents, but in this world, it is not that strange. Even a town kid is old enough to take on an apprenticeship, and a knight’s child could join the knighthood as an apprentice. However, I have to think about Hector and Guy and the others. Since I’m going to have to pull their cute children away from them…) (Zack)

　I’m going to tell my family about this conversation tomorrow.

　Then I finally decided to get down to business.