I haven’t heard any complaints from the site but I’m someone who only goes there from time to time.
As expected, it’s the edge of the city so it’s not possible for me to visit or wander around to if I don’t have anything official to do.
At the former military training camp, which was a bit inaccessible, not spears and shouts can be heard but baseball being hit and flying.
「Why are they playing baseball at the training ground?」
Laura-san muttered so curiously as she exhaled white smoke.
「Actually, when they moved here, they changed the name from training ground to sports field.」
「Sports field?」
「MSG is no longer full of adventurers. Of course, adventurers were our main department but when they’re not hunting monsters, they’ll go here to exercise.」
「Fuuh, so that’s why they are playing baseball? Even so, using the training area for fun is something that would never have occurred in the military.」
「Commoners can’t easily go out of the city so it’s surprisingly useful if there’s a place like this which will make you feel you’re almost out of the city. By the way, where is Pickles……」
Looking around the field, which is about the size of an elementary school with ground, I saw the centaur Pickles, who is drawing her bow toward a target at the far end of the group that’s playing catch.
She’s very tall so she can be easily spotted.
Walking along the edge of the sports field, which is piled with dead grass, we approach Pickles, who is working so hard that steam’s rising from her horse body part.
「Oi! Pickles!」
「Ah! Master! Madam! Thanks for your hard work!」
「You too」
「Yeah」
She turned to me, making a cracking sound as she lowered her bow, a normal size wooden bow that she had probably been pulling for practice.
「Here, I brought you theater ticket for the day after tomorrow.」
「Eh! You personally brought it for me!? Sorry for the trouble!」
She wiped the sweat from her hands and accepted the ticket reverently.
「As I told you before, sorry about this but on that day, you must go in before the opening and get out after closing.」
「I understand.」
Centaurs are big. If she goes in and out with regular customers, it will only cause trouble.
She’s very big so she can only sit in the furthest back row and she can’t even sit in the seats in the first place.
Pickles seemed to have never been in a building like a theater before and she seemed to be quite impressed during the pre-opening performance.
「The day after tomorrow, I’m looking forward to it.」
「Yeah, look forward to it……」
「I’m excited…..areh? Is something wrong?」
「…………」
I suddenly noticed that her tail, blowing in the wind, was much longer and shinier than it used to be.
The same is true when I looked at that body of hers.
Though her stature has totally changed when she was still 10 years old.
Looking back, this centaur Pickles was the first step I took for my dream.
The people who now work for me, the buildings on the Schenker Street, that theater, this sports field, all came from a business that we started together, she and I.
I patted her horse body part with my hand and spoke while looking at her face.
「Hey Pickles……see that theater? We did it, didn’t we?」
「It’s not “we”, Sawadi-sama did it.」
「No no, it is “us”. You and I started it all.」
From behind the worn, scratched, and slightly distorted looking glasses from that day……her eyes were completely different and stronger than those of that day as they stared at me.
「I am……Sawadi-sama’s sword.」
「I see」
So, you want to say that everything’s my achievement and I just used a sword.
Right.
Because I am the one who started it all.
Whether I ascend to the heavens or fall into a ditch, it’s me who’ll bear it all.
However, that’s exactly why.
Why I couldn’t help but thank the very first sword of the ten-year-old me.
「Your sword is as determined as a world-famous sword. You better take care of her.」
「Of course desu yo」
Laura-san, who happily said so, sucked her little cigarette down to the root.
The dry wind whips up a cloud of dust, which mixes with the white smoke and disappears.
「By the way……what is the origin of the name “Gemini*” for that theater?」
Pickles, who was seriously looking at the ticket I gave her, said so.
「It means gemini*」
Hearing my answer, she smiled happily as she did when she had eaten a bellyful of barley porridge for the first time in her life.
TN: Gemini is in English. This explanation right after is Gemini’s Japanese name.
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