“Meow.”
The three-tailed cat leapt onto Pulom’s lap as he played the timpani.
Then it tapped the drum with its front paws.
“What is it? Do you like the music too?”
The cat purred in response to Aznos’s question.
Aznos snorted and smiled.
“Alright. Then from now on you’re part of our troupe too.”
“Meow!”
The cat bobbed its head excitedly and beat the timpani with gusto.
“Whoa!”
Pulom grew flustered at the sight, and everyone watching burst into laughter.
Lena laughed as she watched and said,
“Aznos (donkey), Pulom (chicken), Kanis (hound) and now even a cat has joined the troupe?”
“Oh—now that you mention it, they’re all animals…!”
Only then did Aznos, surprised, scratch his head.
Come to think of it, all their names were derived from animals.
Of course, they weren’t ordinary names; they were names given when they had been slaves.
“Th-that is…”
When the village chief grew nervous, Aznos waved a hand.
“It’s fine. It’s my name now. And,” he glanced at his companions and the three-tailed cat, chuckling, “isn’t this fate?”
“…”
The chief was silent for a moment, then looked into Aznos’s eyes and said,
“If you ever need a place to settle, come to our village anytime. We’ll treat you as benefactors.”
“Your words are enough. We’re a traveling troupe, after all.”
Aznos offered a faint smile, and at that moment Hamel spoke up casually.
“How about going to Bremen?”
Bremen, a domain near Haidern—practically a sanctuary for troupes, where music was highly developed.
It would be an excellent place for them, who had only just begun learning music.
“Bremen, Bremen… that sounds good. The Bremen Music Corps!”
“Eh? Well, there is already a music corps in Bremen… but something like that would be fine.”
Hamel swallowed and nodded.
What did it matter what they called themselves?
They would play and sing wherever they went.
Music that made people happy.
“Then we’ll be on our way.”
At Hamel’s words, the group rose from their seats in unison.
They had spent quite some time here.
There was still a long way to go to reach Ashitaka.
“Ah, you’re leaving already?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know why you’re heading west… but please take care of yourselves.”
“May God’s grace be with you.”
Hamel nodded and began to walk.
The group followed as if out of habit and exited the cave.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
Leo Benedictus, pausing as he left the cave, turned back and called to Aznos.
Just as Aznos grew slightly tense,
“I’m sorry.”
Leo suddenly bowed and apologized.
“No, why…”
“I was rude yesterday. I’ve learned a lot from this. Perhaps the way I’ve lived… may have been wrong.”
“…”
“Please accept this.”
Leo held something out.
Aznos, surprised, took it.
“What is this?”
“It’s a talisman. The traveling road will be hard. It should help.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Well then.”
Leo Benedictus turned and headed out of the cave.
Aznos blinked and laughed foolishly.
“He was a good person after all.”
Then he looked at the talisman Leo had left him.
The talisman looked like an ordinary stone with something engraved on it.
“This is…?”
A crow-shaped figure.
“Huff, huff. Ah, you’re still following?”
Aznos panted and asked.
Pulom wiped the sweat from his brow and answered,
“Yeah. Right behind.”
“Damn… let’s do it one more time and go.”
“…Alright.”
Aznos angled the lantern’s light and shone it on a nearby cliff.
The doll in his hand once again became a terrifying monster and cast a shadow.
─Krrrrrrrrr
─Thud dudududududum
The troupe played their instruments in time with the monster’s movements.
The demons following at a distance flinched and backed away.
The demons retreated and disappeared into the darkness.
It seemed to have worked, barely.
Aznos breathed a sigh of relief and said,
“Let’s hurry.”
“…Right.”
Pulom and Kanis gathered their instruments again.
Kanis’s hand trembled as he lifted his sticks.
“You…”
“We can’t go on any longer, captain.”
Kanis’s voice quivered.
They had long since thrown away all their luggage.
Even so, they had reached their limit.
How had it come to this?
With despair shadowing his face, Aznos looked at his companions.
Soon after parting ways with Hamel’s group, they had left the village as well.
But that night, they encountered demons.
The troupe mimicked a monster and drove them off, and for a while they were relieved.
The frightened demons fled.
But the relief didn’t last long.
The next day new demons appeared.
They mimicked a monster to drive them off again, but soon new demons chased them once more.
…Why.
The demons swarmed them like ants drawn to candy.
Aznos realized they had reached their limit.
─Grrr
─Kya hahaha
Beastly breaths. The laughter of a young woman. The flapping of a huge insect’s wings.
Sounds of demons came from all around.
They seemed to savor the prey’s despair, closing in as if cornering it in a dead end.
They slowly closed the distance.
Aznos took a deep breath, exhaled, and asked,
“We must be far enough from the village, right?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good then.”
Aznos nodded.
When the troupe realized they were being chased by demons, they had initially planned to return to the village.
The three-tailed cat would be guarding it.
But when they realized the number of demons chasing them was too large, they turned away decisively.
It would still be too much for the village.
There were too many demons to gauge how dangerous they were.
And the three-tailed cat had only recently gained rank.
They couldn’t risk dragging the demons back to the village.
“Captain.”
“Yes?”
“We still didn’t have a terrible life, right?”
Kanis asked, trembling.
Aznos, who was no braver than Kanis, found himself laughing.
“Of course.”
At that answer, Kanis opened his eyes wide.
Pulom chuckled beside him and said the same.
“This has been a good life. Thanks to you, Aznos, we did what we wanted to do with our hearts.”
“…Right. Shall we sing one last song?”
“That sounds good.”
Pulom, as if he’d been waiting, took out his violin and positioned it beneath his chin.
Kanis managed a small smile and set his sticks on the timpani.
“Ahhh.”
Aznos cleared his throat and began to sing.
They could hear the demons’ breathing. They were close.
Was this not the outcome they had feared?
The demons, as if their amusement had cooled, were approaching quickly.
The song neared its end.
And then came the silence.
“…It was fun.”
“Me too.”
“Me as well.”
Surrounded by demons, the troupe exchanged grins and waited for the end.
─Tinkle
At that moment, a clear, pure sound came from somewhere—no sound that belonged to the forest.
─Tinkle
They wondered if they’d misheard, but the bell rang once more.
Pulom and Kanis turned toward the sound.
Something was approaching.
And then…
“…?”
The demons rushing toward the troupe froze like stone.
Some had even reached out as if to touch them, but could not move.
What was happening?
A ray of light cut through the night mist and advanced.
─Step step
A figure clad in a robe pulled over his head leaned on a staff.
He held a censer in one hand, and bells dangling from his staff chimed with each step.
As he drew near, the demons began to react one by one.
Those who had hesitated as if waking from ice suddenly turned and fled like the tide.
They stared in dumbstruck fear as they fled.
─Flash
An inexplicable radiance burst forth and swept over the demons.
The force seemed as if it could swallow the forest; they squeezed their eyes shut and, when they opened them again…
All the demons had already turned to ash.
“…Wh-what is this.”
While Aznos and the others stood stunned, the robed man approached.
As he neared, he whipped off his robe and greeted them cheerfully.
“Hello!”
“…Ah, hello?”
Aznos bowed and returned the greeting, while cautiously inspecting the man.
He had expected a monster that could slay demons in an instant, but it was a boy who had just shrugged off his cloak.
His golden hair swayed, and…
He wore an eyepatch.
Is he blind?
Had he crossed this forest and marsh alone without sight?
Aznos couldn’t believe it and gaped.
The boy chuckled and extended his hand.
“I’m Antonio, a priest of the order.”
“Y-you’re a priest. I’m Aznos. Thank you for saving us.”
“Not at all. But Aznos, may I ask you something?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Have you recently received or picked up anything? Or perhaps an unknown mark has been engraved on your body?”
“Huh?”
What an abrupt question.
Aznos tilted his head, then remembered something.
“I actually…”
Aznos took out a stone bulging from his pocket and handed it over.
The stone bore the crow engraving—the one Leo Benedictus had given him.
Antonio murmured as he took the stone.
“As I thought…”
When Antonio clenched it tightly, the stone crumbled in an instant.
Aznos swallowed.
“Can you explain how you came to possess this?”
“Y-yes, of course.”
Aznos hurriedly explained, answering Antonio’s sharp questions.
He didn’t seem like a bad person; he had a strangely familiar air, like the exorcist priest they’d met not long ago.
As he explained, Aznos naturally told him about Hamel’s group.
Then Antonio suddenly grabbed Aznos’s hand and asked urgently,
“How long has it been since you parted from them?”
“About two days. But since we were heading in opposite directions…”
They must have been separated by at least three or four days’ travel.
Even so, Antonio clenched his fist as if that were the answer he’d hoped for and muttered,
“They’ve followed a lot.”
“What do you mean…”
“Ah, that was just to myself.”
Antonio gave a sly smile and looked back at them.
“That was a good performance. How should I put it—it warmed my heart.”
“Ah, y-you heard it?”
“Of course. I came this way after hearing your music.”
They had never imagined anyone would hear the song they sang with such resolve.
Aznos scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Antonio smiled and quickened his pace.
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
“Wh-where to?”
“I must see the people you mentioned.”
“Ah.”
The troupe exchanged hesitant looks.
After a brief pause, they cautiously asked,
“Um, may we come along as well?”
“What? Um… it might be dangerous…”
“It’s fine!”
They were more afraid of being left behind than of danger.
When they shouted in unison, Antonio flinched and then tilted his head.
“Well, having music and company… would be nice.”
“Th-then?”
“You must follow closely. Otherwise I’ll leave you behind.”
“Yes, yes!”
And so the Bremen Music Corps began walking through the darkness with Antonio.
The night forest that had been terrifying not long ago no longer bothered them.
Moonlight shone on their path, as if cheering them on in their journey.
