Side: Gojo no Kaguya
Gojo no Kaguya, vice-captain of the Astraea Familia, which was responsible for maintaining public order in Orario, had been in an exceptionally good mood lately.
She had met someone from her Far Eastern homeland for the first time in a long while, and he had personally assured her that he could make a kodachi almost exactly as they were made back home. Seeing the prototype weapon he had made, she felt she could trust his skill. She still did not fully understand it, but he had also said he would lower the price by however much the materials she brought in were worth, so it seemed she could save money as well.
Ever since leaving the Far East and coming to Orario, it had been a very long time since she had met anyone else from her homeland. Whenever she spoke with him, it felt like talking to a friend she had known for years.
When she checked the blueprints he had given her, all that remained to acquire was the skin of an Aqua Serpent or a Raider Fish. He probably intended to use it beneath the tsuka-ito wrapping on the handle. A wooden handle like the Greatsword of the Firelinking Rite was nice too, but personally, she found a katana grip more comfortable when fish skin was used beneath the tsuka-ito.
Her memories of the Far East had grown hazy now, but she remembered gripping many different tsuka, and the ones that had fit her hand best had also been those that used fish skin.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
"You seem to be in a good mood, Kaguya."
"Ah, Lady Astraea. Good morning."
"Yes, good morning, Kaguya. You have seemed especially happy lately. Has something happened?"
At the question from her goddess, Lady Astraea, Kaguya told her about everything that had happened. How she had heard rumors of a Far Eastern blacksmith around two weeks ago, how Ryu had told her that he was the one responsible for the ginger ale that had suddenly been served at their dinner gathering, how seeing someone from her homeland for the first time in ages had lifted her spirits, how she had spoken with him as though she were talking to an old friend, and how she had received a discount from him for reasons she did not understand.
As she explained each thing one by one, she saw her goddess's expression steadily worsen. After hearing even the reason for the discount, Lady Astraea let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face in exasperation. Why?
"Kaguya... did you perhaps speak to that boy the way you usually speak to the other members of our Familia...?"
"Hmm, probably?"
Her goddess finally released another deep sigh and shook her head.
"Kaguya, do you intend to remain on friendly terms with that boy going forward?"
"Since he is from the same homeland, I do intend to get along with him from now on, at least?"
"If you truly want to be friends with him, go apologize to him at once. No, I should go apologize to him myself. I raised you wrong..."
"What? Why? Wait, Lady Astraea, Lady Astraea! Just a moment!"
"...Do you truly still not understand?"
"Uh..."
"Sigh... If the person who needs to apologize does not even know what she must apologize for, that is a problem in itself. I will ask you just two things. How long have you known that boy, and what sort of relationship do the two of you have?"
"What sort of relationship... I first learned of him two weeks ago, and I have met him in person around twice... We are a customer and shopkeeper?"
"Then were the words and behavior you showed him appropriate for such a relationship?"
"Of cour—?"
Come to think of it, because I saw him as someone from my homeland whom I had not encountered in a long time, I had carelessly spoken as though I were talking among our Familia members. Just as close friends might casually mix crude language into their conversation, I had unilaterally decided that we were friends and spoken to him in my usual sarcastic manner.
Once I realized that, I could clearly see the wrong I had committed. My face flushed hot with self-loathing.
"Do you understand now what you need to apologize for?"
"Yes..."
"Then let us go. It is nearly evening, so should you not see him and apologize before he closes his shop?"
"You too, Lady Astraea...?"
"When a child does wrong, is it not only natural that the parent bears it as well?"
"Ngh..."
"Come now, let us go."
"Yeees..."
Side: Smith
Today, I had a feeling that someone was going to come by, so I deliberately finished cleaning up early. It was just a feeling.
Come to think of it, when I thought of customers... Kaguya came to mind. Not in a good way at all. At the time, I had let it pass, figuring that was just how she was. But the more I kept thinking about it, the more her shitty way of talking kept coming back to me, and my temper started rising.
Yeah. Once this business is over, I should tell her not to act like she knows me.
Jingle
"Fuck, the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. I asked if she was from the Far East because she looked like it, and she asked where else I thought she could be from."
"Then I saw someone from a high-ranking family here and asked what the deal was, and she immediately started radiating killing intent."
"And when I asked whether she had come in after she opened the door and entered, she answered like I was some idiot who could not tell that much."
"..."
"Why the fuck do I have to sit here and listen to that kind of shit?"
"...I am sorry."
"Yeah, damn right you should be sorry... Huh?"
At the sudden apology, I turned my head and saw Kaguya hanging her head in shame and... someone with brown hair?
"Leaving aside why you are here... who are you?"
"...I am Astraea, this child's goddess. I came to apologize for the wrong she committed."
"Do you know what she did wrong? No, this is the fault of that customer bastard. Why is Lady Astraea the one apologizing?"
Judging by their expressions, they seemed to have heard most of what I had said. I let it all out and began speaking of her not as a customer, but as that customer bastard.
"Is talking like that to someone you have only met twice some kind of noble etiquette?"
"Well... that..."
"What about it? Or is radiating killing intent and fiddling with your sword hilt in front of someone you have just met supposed to be etiquette?"
"..."
"Ah! So when someone asks whether you came in, replying as if they cannot even tell something that obvious is etiquette! Since I was not born into a noble family, I never knew that."
"...rry."
"What?"
"I am... sorry..."
"Do you know what you are sorry for?"
"Toward someone I had not known for long... I arbitrarily felt close to you, and without thinking, I treated you casually as though you were a friend... I am sorry..."
"Oh, that was it? You thought that because I was someone from your homeland whom you had not seen in a long time, it was fine to treat me however you wanted?"
"That... that is..."
"Or what? I looked like a commoner at a glance, so you figured you could play noble back home like you did in the Far East?"
"No... no... that..."
She looked like she was about to cry now. Hmm... I was about to let her off the hook soon... but then...
Kaguya slowly lowered herself and knelt.
Still in that position, she bent her upper body forward again and placed both hands on the floor.
She did not stop at bowing her upper body. She lowered her head as well, pressing her forehead against the floor.
Both knees, both elbows, and her forehead touched the ground, completing a perfect five-point prostration.
"I am sorry... I beg your forgiveness."
"I will apologize as well... Will you forgive Kaguya?"
"Sigh..."
Twitch
The instant my sigh left my mouth, both Kaguya, who was prostrated on the floor, and Lady Astraea, who wore an apologetic expression toward me, shuddered.
"...For Lady Astraea's sake, I will settle this matter here. I accept your apology and forgive you. Please rise, Kaguya."
"Yes..."
"The next time we see each other after today, whether you bring the materials or whatever else, we will be complete strangers."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means we will start our relationship over completely from the beginning. People's memories are not so easily forgotten, but we will treat everything that happened before as if it never did, as much as possible, and start again from there."
"..."
"Even if you do not like that, that is what I will do, so conduct yourself accordingly."
"I understand..."
And so the two of them left. All that remained was a bitter aftertaste...
I was the one who got angry, and I was the one who forgave her... so why did I feel so stifled?
This was that feeling. When something you had expected turns out to be far too different from what you imagined, the bewilderment turns into irritation, and that irritation turns into anger.
Unconsciously, I had thought the people from the original story—especially the members of the Astraea Familia—were good people, righteous people. But I had received an insult I could not ignore from the vice-captain of that Astraea Familia, and I had become angry enough to make her perform a five-point prostration.
They say no person is perfect, but this time, I was disappointed. Maybe I had held an idealized image of the Astraea Familia, the group responsible for the city's public safety.
And now, that image had shattered.