Masquerade

Zek! Behind you!

Behind him and his lust-addled face,

I saw the beauty's neck stretching like a snake.

—Sylvia's Memorandum

 

"Naaah, I'd been thinking my body's been getting harder to move recently though~"

Lying in bed, Rin spoke in light tone.

"Don't lie. There's no way you wouldn't notice."

Nina's, however, was very heavy.

"… Nina, what's going on?"

"It's just as it seems."

Nina sighed deeply and shook her head with a solemn expression.

"… This child's life is nearing its end."

"What nonsense."

I laughed off her words.

"Rin is only about two hundred years old, right? No matter how you look at it, it's too soon. A merfolk's lifespan should be around five centuries."

Utai had lived that long. Of course, there was no doubt that she was a remarkably long-lived merfolk. But half as long as that surely shouldn't be long enough for this.

"That's true… It's true that Utai was exceptionally long-lived, but even so, normal merfolk live to be about four hundred years old."

Since the waterways were established, many merfolk have visited Hiiro Village. Among them, there are not a few merfolk who receive care at Nina's clinic. It must be information obtained through such channels.

"But that's for merfolk who live in the water… in the sea."

I was shocked, losing my composure. I had overlooked such a simple thing. She was always more energetic than anyone else. I'd never even suspected that living on land could be harmful to her.

"But… Rin is so…"

It's true that there are wrinkles around her neck, but other than that, she still looks young.

But in my mind, I saw Utai's image.

She too had maintained her beautiful appearance until just before her death. That's just what merfolk were like.

"No! Look at her waist fins. Aren't they beautiful?"

Suddenly realizing, I pointed at Rin's waist fins. Utai's waist fins were in tatters. A merfolk's aging should show in their waist fins as well. If hers weren't like that, there should still be some time for her.

"… That's why I noticed. Look more closely."

However, Nina's expression grew even darker.

I stared at Rin's waist fins, making sure not to miss a single wound.

"… Ah."

That's when I realized.

—The numbers didn't add up.

Merfolk waist fins grew thicker and larger with each passing year, much like the rings of a tree. However Rin's fins were lacking. No matter how many times I counted, she had only a hundred or so fins, even though she was supposed to be over two hundred years old.

"You… you were only transforming your waist fin, weren't you?"

"… Yeah."

Rin nodded as if resigned.

"Geez, Professor Nina, you have no delicacy. Exposing my attempt to look younger in front of a man. This is why you immortal elves are so…"

"Don't make fun of it."

Hearing Rin continue with her smile and light tone, Nina let out a sigh of resignation.

"Going back to the sea now might let you live a little longer, but… I assume you have no intention of doing that."

"Ooobviously! It'd be boring to go back to the sea now… I've already lived much longer than Yuuki and Aqua, anyway…"

… Yeah. Indeed, their lives were short… but to put aside your own death because of that was intolerable. I had trouble accepting it.

"But… you should live doing the things you love to do then. There must be plenty of fun and interesting things out there, right? Why were you investigating villages then?"

"Mmm. To give back? I had so much fun because of Mentor. I thought that it would be nice to meet Ai, Mentor's wife, too."

When I couldn't help but speek up, Rin said such a thing.

I… was I hesitating to entrust everything to a girl like her and dragging my feet over something trivial?

"… I understand. I'll also investigate with everything I have. Will you accept my help?"

"Of course!"

Rin smiled without a care.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"This is it."

Rin led me to a small cave a short distance away from the village.

"O' light."

A ball of light was born from Rin's palm, which was cupped like a bowl, and it illuminated the paintings on the wall.

"I see… This is…"

I had no idea.

I could tell that it was a painting. It was clearly something drawn in some sort of shape.

But…

"It's terrible, isn't it?"

That's right. It's extremely bad.

Ai wasn't very good at drawing either… but this was worse by far.

Is was a painting of a devil with its arms spread wide… or a fallen rocket?

I couldn't even tell if it was a living thing or not.

"I don't know… but I think this might be a person."

Rin inadvertently pointed to the lower part of the painting.

"A person… maybe…?"

Now that she mentioned it, it wasn't impossible to see it as a stick figure… kind of… but maybe it was just my imagination.

"It would be nice if there was something else left, but there's nothing."

The cave itself was small and narrow. It was only big enough for Rin and me to crouch down and fill the space, so it was clear even without searching that there was nothing left.

If only there were some words left instead of a painting…

"Yeah… there's only the stone."

Rin furrowed her brows, looking troubled.

However, her murmur gave me a brilliant idea.

"That's it!"

If the mural remained, then of course the wall from that time remains as well. The connected ceiling, floor, and everything else must have remained since then. In that case—

"O' rock, solid and unwavering, immovable. I shall bestow upon you a name. Gnome of the ground, show yourself before me!"

In response to my incantation, the ground warped and protruded, taking on the shape of a person like clay.

Soon, it transformed into a Gnome about half a meter tall.

"Gnome, tell me, have you been here all this time?"

As I asked with a prayerful feeling, the Gnome nodded.

"Do you remember the person who drew this?"

When I asked, pointing to the mural, the Gnome nodded again. Rin and I involuntarily looked at each other.

"Who was it!?"

At that question, the Gnome furrowed its brow, looking troubled. After a while, it shook its head vigorously from side to side.

"… You don't know?"

Again, its head shook from side to side.

"Maybe it can't speak?"

When Rin said that, the Gnome nodded several times in agreement.