Doggone Academy

Chapter 7. Kidnapping (1)

“I will leave tomorrow too. I don’t know when I can visit you again. I may be back in a few years. But you probably won’t be here…”

“Yes.”

“Can you see me off when I leave?”

“…No.”

Although they had been childhood friends, now they could not communicate as before. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, he didn’t want to crawl like a worm at the last moment.

Liza bowed her head. The moonlight was temporarily blocked by clouds, so everything was briefly in darkness. He wondered what Liza’s expression would be.

“…Then we’ll say goodbye here. I’ll go in first.”

“So long, Liza.”

“Take care. I hope to see you again someday.”

“You too.”

Liza went back to the Temple first. He was sure she would understand that he needed time alone to sort out his feelings.

He walked alone the same path he had walked with Liza as a child. He stopped near the moonlit pond. He sat on the rock as in the past.

He looked around him. Every place reminded him of the moments he lived with her.

He sat there and cried for a couple of hours.

His time with her was over. The road was blocked by a huge wall.

They were able to get so close because they grew up together in a space called an orphanage where they could ignore the difference in status. He had nothing special, nor was it that his destiny bound him to Liza. That luck simply ran out.

He took out of his pocket the necklace he had made to give to Liza. He remembered that she wore a necklace of precious gems around her neck. That meant nothing.

He threw the necklace into the pond.

Finally he closed his eyes. This was the end of his love.

***

After accepting that his path had diverged from Liza’s, he focused on learning about his work. It was the only thing he could do about his frustration.

One day, a jeweler who had a large store took an interest in the accessories he made.

“Your skill is not far from that of other craftsmen, could you bring me an item to the shop every week?”

He signed a contract to sell some of his items to the jeweler who recognized his skills. After that, the number of people looking for his items gradually increased. And he began to earn enough to live on his own without any problems. In the summer of his 16th year, he left the Lorail Pavilion to become independent.

Then there was an unexpected encounter.

It was when he stopped at a jewelry store to deliver some items. In the store was a pot-bellied nobleman accompanied by a noblewoman. They were looking at things.

He froze like a stone. The lady who was clutching the nobleman’s arm was his mother. It had been eight years since he had seen her, but he could recognize her right away. She looked exactly as he remembered her. On the other hand, it seemed that his mother did not recognize him.

His mother called out the names of other people outside the store. Two children who looked to be five or six years old ran into the store. The couple continued to look at jewelry with their children in their arms.

She had started a new family.

He left the place with a blank stare.

He isolated herself for a while to calm his emotions. He had long since assumed that it was all in the past. There was no connection.

He wondered what he could do. This was the life he had been given.

Everyone in the world dreams of a wonderful life, but not everyone could have it. Not everyone could be a King, or a Knight, or a Great Wizard, or a Hero.

Some have to be nuns, some have to be pr0st!tutes. Some have to fix the garden, some have to work the metal. Even if they break under pressure, some have to be a small cog to make the world work.

Goddess Acates saved him twice. Once she saved him from starving to death after losing his mother, and the other when it was perforated in the stomach area. He wondered why the Goddess had helped him. He could not easily predict his future.

Maybe Liza was God’s chosen one. And he just someone disposable to adorn his childhood.

When he became independent, he rented a place within walking distance of the workshop. It was an old house. The floors creaked so much that it hurt his ears, the windows didn’t open properly and he could hear the mice walking on the ceiling every night.

He couldn’t sleep easily because he had so many thoughts. And Liza would pop into his mind when he couldn’t sleep. What kind of people was she meeting? How did she adjust to Eternia Academy, a place where the country’s geniuses gathered?

Still, he tried to erase Liza from his mind.

His metalworking skills developed day by day. When the craftsman who taught him looked at his work, he asked him to stop with a bitter smile. But that didn’t stop him. He stayed alone in the workshop in the evenings to learn techniques.

***