This is from the perspective of the Great Sage back when he was still young, fifty years ago.

***

My name is Otfried.


I’m an eighteen-year-old mage with a secret dream: in about fifty years, I hope to be known as the Great Sage and spend my days leisurely traveling with my grandchild.


Lately, some people have even started calling me a Sage.

Though really, I’m just a little knowledgeable and happen to be good at magic, that’s all.


At the moment, I’m a member of the Hero’s party, which is on its quest to defeat the Demon King.
Once people started calling me a Sage, I suppose being invited to join the Hero’s party was only natural.


And now, in the midst of our journey to defeat the Demon King, we’ve been staying in a certain ancient forest for quite some time.
Officially, we’re staying here to recover from the wounds we’ve accumulated in battle, but I’m the only one who knows the real reason.


I turned my attention towards a burly man who is both one of my companions and best friend.
That man, wearing a golden helmet, slowly began walking away from our campsite.


“Well then, everyone. I’m heading out to patrol for a bit.”


Leaving the rest of the party behind, the man in the helmet headed deeper into the forest alone.

That man is none other than the leader of our Demon King subjugation party, Rudolf the Hero.


Ever since we arrived in this forest, the Hero Rudolf has frequently gone off on his own like this.

As I stood with several of my companions, watching the Hero leave, one of the women in our party suddenly hugged me from behind.
She leaned in close and whispered into my ear.


“Hey, Otfried. Do you know the origin of this forest’s name?”

“Of course. In the old tongue, the forest spirits known as Dryads were called Dryas. It’s a word from long before a human kingdom was ever established here.”

“And when there’s more than one Dryas, they’re called Dryades, right? And this forest is called the Forest of Dryades. That’s because there isn’t just one spirit. There’s two. And they’re sisters.”


Laughing “Nyahaha,” she spun around and plopped herself down in front of me.

For some reason, this swordswoman, Fidessa, is even more knowledgeable than I am, despite me being the one they call a Sage.

Her white hair fluttered softly before my eyes, and a pleasant, sweet fragrance tickled my nose.
Fidessa and I are of the same age, and for whatever reason, we seem to get along particularly well. Aside from the Hero, she’s the companion I’m closest to.


“Otfried, you know why Hero-kun keeps going off into the forest alone, don’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“Actually, I know too. I know who Hero-kun’s been secretly meeting.”


My heart skipped a beat.

I couldn’t tell whether it was because Fidessa had seen through the Hero’s secret, or because she had placed her hand against my cheek.


“Hey, why don’t the two of us sneak away for a bit…?”

“There’s too many people around here,” Fidessa murmured, and I couldn’t bring myself to refuse her invitation.



The two of us make our way deeper into the forest.


Fidessa is a duel-wielding swordswoman, a style that seemed out of place with her slender frame.
She wields a pair of mythical-class treasured swords, one capable of controlling lightning and the other wind.
She also ranks among the top three strongest members of the Hero’s party.

She can’t use magic at all, but to make up for it, she has incredibly sharp instincts.
Maybe that’s why she was able to find the Hero and his lover’s secret meeting place so easily.


Hiding in the bushes, Fidessa and I spied on the couple as they lost themselves in each other’s affection.
The Hero, wearing the golden helmet, was locked in a passionate embrace with a beautiful woman with hair made of blue vines.


“Aha, so that’s Hero-kun’s girlfriend. I knew she wasn’t human.”

“Well, now that you’ve seen this much, there’s no point hiding it anymore… she’s a Dryad, a forest spirit.”


I’m sorry, Hero.
Even though I’m your best friend, I let Fidessa find out about your secret.


“Was he hiding it from the rest of the party because he fell in love with a non-human as the Hero?”

“That’s right.”

“I wonder how those two ended up together?”

“If I remember correctly, the Dryad saved Rudolf when he was being attacked by the Demon King’s army, and he fell in love with her at first sight. After that, he went to propose to her almost every day, bringing with a blue flower each time. Just the other day, she finally accepted, and the two of them became a couple.”


Since I was his best friend, Rudolf had been confiding in me about his love life.
And let me say, helping him keep the whole thing hidden from the rest of the party hadn’t exactly been easy.


“So, which one is that Dryad? The older sister or the younger one?”

“…The older sister.”


I recall her name was Eschen Frau.
Just as I remembered that, someone suddenly called out to us from behind.


“Um, excuse me, humans…”


Turning around, I saw a beautiful woman with hair made of green vines standing there.
She was beautiful, but she wasn’t human.
That much was obvious from the branches growing from her head, which I couldn’t help but stare at.


“A Dryad…?”

“Yes. My name is Salige Frau, the younger sister of the Dryad over there.”


And just like that, both of the Dryad sisters we’d been talking about were gathered in the same place.
I’d heard that forest spirits rarely showed themselves before humans, so why is she here?


“You’re companions of the Hero, are you not? I have an important favor to ask of you.”

“And what could we do for you?”

“Please look after my sister. Though she hasn’t said it yet, she intends to leave this forest and spend the rest of her life with the Hero.”




We returned to our campsite after hearing what the younger Dryad had to say.

According to her, the older Dryad is planning to abandon the forest and elope with the Hero.

I had assumed their romance would only last for the duration of our stay in this forest. I never imagined she actually intended to join the Hero’s party.


I was curious how a Dryad, a spirit said to dwell within an ancient tree, planned to travel with us, but apparently the older Dryad had something in mind.
I’m actually extremely interested in finding out how she’ll do it.


“Nyahaha! I still can’t believe a Dryad is actually going to join us as Hero-kun’s girlfriend!”

“Even I’m surprised. But with her on our side, we might actually be able to defeat the Demon King.”


With the spirit magic of a Dryad on our side, taking down the remaining officers of the Demon King’s army would be much easier, especially after we defeated two of the Four Heavenly Kings the other day.
Not only that, killing the Demon King himself might no longer be just a pipe dream.

But caught up in the excitement of gaining another powerful ally, I failed to realize the meaning behind Fidessa’s expression darkening for a moment.



When the Hero Rudolf returned from his rendezvous with his lover, he told me that the Dryad would be joining us.

He planned to introduce her to the rest of the party tomorrow.
It seemed he had finally decided to reveal his secret to everyone.


It’ll be fine. Everyone here is on the Hero’s side.
Even if it’s a romance between different races, they’re his companions. I’m sure they’ll support his relationship.
Even Fidessa didn’t seem opposed to it either.
So I’m sure everything will be fine.

After finishing my discussion for tomorrow with the Hero, I quietly returned to my tent.


“Hey, Otfried. Having a lover is nice, isn’t it?”


Just as I went to bed, Fidessa slipped into my tent.


“…And here I thought the only thing you loved was your swords.”

“Even I get tired of sleeping with a cold pillow. Sometimes, I find myself longing for the warmth of another person.”


The sensation of Fidessa’s sweet lips filled my mind.

And so, I fell asleep as if I had lost consciousness, feeling Fidessa’s warmth beside me.



In my dream, we had defeated the Demon King.

Now I could return to my home village.
And just like the Hero, I could marry someone I loved and live happily ever after with her.
At the time, I thought I wouldn’t mind if that person was Fidessa.


But the next day, contrary to everything I had expected, it all came to an end.



The next morning, I was jolted awake by a man’s scream.
Realizing the voice belonged to the Hero, I rushed straight to Rudolf’s tent.


There, I found a Dryad with green vines for hair kissing the Hero.

Green hair meant she was the younger Dryad sister.
The Hero’s lover was the older sister with blue vines, so why was he with the younger sister?


Just as I wondered that, I noticed someone else was here.

Behind the two of them stood a Dryad with hair made of blue vines, leaning against a tree that had sprouted from beneath the ground. She was glaring at them with a look filled with resentment.
It was the older Dryad, the Hero’s lover.


“What the hell is going on here…?”


The older Dryad questioned the two of them.
The Hero panicked and tried to speak, but the younger Dryad covered his mouth and slowly answered in his place.


“The Hero has chosen me instead of you, onee-sama. You were merely being toyed with.”


As she spoke, the younger Dryad once again brought her lips towards the Hero Rudolf’s.
Seeing this, the older Dryad let out a bloodcurdling scream as plant blades sprouted from her arms.


“You betrayed me, Herooooo!!”


The next instant, the older Dryad swung her blade and severed the Hero’s left arm.
With the younger Dryad holding him in her arms, the Hero hadn’t been able to move properly and unfortunately took the blow.


“N-No… I didn’t mean to actually cut you…”


Strangely, the older Dryad, the one who had attacked him, seemed even more shaken than the Hero who had just lost an arm.
But that didn’t matter right now. I had to treat the Hero’s wound.


“Rudolf!”


As I activated my magic to help my best friend, the older Dryad vanished.
All that remained at the scene was a single tree sprouting from the ground.
She must’ve used her spirit powers to teleport away.


And by the time I realized it, the younger Dryad had disappeared as well.
In her case, there wasn’t even a trace to suggest she had ever been here.


What in the world had just happened?
I couldn’t believe that the younger Dryad who had asked me just yesterday to “please look after my sister” was the same person I had just seen.

One after another, the rest of our companions began gathering at the Hero’s tent.

Then I heard Fidessa shout, “The spirit ran that way!”


When I stepped outside the tent, I saw Fidessa running deep into the forest.
I have to follow her.


“Otfried, wait. I’m coming too.”



The Hero, who had just received light recovery magic from the saint in our party, followed after me.
I was worried about his injury, but for Rudolf, that was probably the last thing on his mind right now.

When the two of us reached the heart of the forest, we encountered a Dryad with a furious, almost demonic expression on her face.
Her vines were blue, so she was definitely the older Dryad.

And then I realized that we were standing at the entrance to the forest’s sanctuary.
I recognized it because the Hero had told me about this place before.


However, never could I have ever imagined that this place would become the final destination of the Hero’s party’s journey.

***

Author’s Note:

And so, this chapter was the story of what happened fifty years ago, as told by Lady Dryad, recounted to her by one of the Hero’s companions. That companion was none other than Otfried, grandfather of the nectar-crazed boy and the man who would later become the Great Sage.

Next Time: Autobiography; The Novice Sage’s Chronicles of the Continent (Part Two)