The Distant Trail of Ciara Badvia

Prologue: In the Depths of the Lily Mountains
Part 1: A Snowy Night in Spring

SNOW AT THE END OF SPRING

The flames in the fireplace popped.

Tyril slowly lifted her eyes from her book and looked at the logs there. Then, refusing to let it bother her, she returned her gaze back to her unfinished novel, immersing herself once again in the world of the story.

On a whim, she recalled the cold of winter during the early spring nights in the mountains. The warmth of the fireplace seemed to reach the girl sitting on the sofa, hugging her legs. Rosa sat beside her, passing the time as usual with her knitting.

After dinner was just as tranquil a moment. Among all the times of the day, this was Tyril’s favorite.

When Tyril first started living in this house, the fact that she was a freeloader weighed on her constantly, and she was always overly cautious around Rosa. However, Rosa continued to be kind, treating Tyril as an ordinary resident of her house, and though she wasn’t one to speak much, the warmth and kindness in her round, brown eyes and the faint wrinkles in the corners of her mouth put Tyril’s heart at ease. Just being by her side made Tyril feel secure.

Also, much like Rosa, Tyril had never been good at speaking up in the first place.

“Snow…”

Suddenly, Rosa, who was usually quietly knitting, stopped and raised her head.

Tyril couldn’t catch what she said for a moment and belatedly turned her attention toward her.

“Has it started snowing?”

“Oh, really?” Tyril closed the book and hurried to the window.

She drew the curtains and wiped the foggy glass with her hand. The window reflected her emerald eyes and long chestnut hair as well as, scattered here and there, a few flakes of white fluttering down gently.

“Right, it is snowing.”

illustration by 紗倉様

The snow fell without making a sound. Tyril felt curious and wondered how Rosa knew, though only for a second. Eventually, she became captivated by the nighttime view and the cotton-like snow, which contrasted with the warm room.

Tyril loved the snow. Life deep in the mountains didn’t always make it a magical sight, yet she still loved seeing the world turn in glistening white. But perhaps this was the last she’d see of it this winter, as the trees she saw earlier in the day were starting to bud at their tips, heralding the ending of winter and the coming of spring.

“Tyril.” Rosa brought the absentminded Tyril back to reality. “It must be cold there. Come here.”

“… Yes.”

With that reminder, Tyril realized her body was starting to feel cold. Despite wanting to watch the snow a bit longer, getting sick and causing trouble for Rosa would be no good. She obediently closed the curtains, moved away from the window, and returned to the sofa by the fireplace.

“By the way,” Tyril mumbled suddenly, “is Well back in his room?”

It was rare for Well to be absent when it was chilly and snowing. He was unusually sensitive to the low temperature, yet he always pretended to be tough, like when he would give up his place on the sofa to Rosa and Tyril and then settle right on the stone-cold floor next to the fireplace to take care of his sword. After dinner today, he said he was going to check on the storage shed in the back, but he still hadn’t returned to the living room even after a while.

Rosa didn’t react, while Tyril cocked her head in wonder. “I wonder if something’s wrong… I’ll go check on him.”

She left the living room with light footsteps and headed toward the entrance. Rosa seemed unconcerned with the silence, but Tyril couldn’t just leave him alone. She went outside and peeked into the storage shed—Well was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking that he might have returned to his room, Tyril immediately spun on her heel and went back into the house. Up the stairs, on the second floor, the room on the right side. She lightly knocked on the door and heard a clatter from inside.

“Well? Are you there, Well?”

She received a reply immediately.

“Oh… T-Tyril?”

“What are you doing?”

“Um… Nothing.”

“Can I come in?”

“J-just give me a second.”

Well’s voice seemed somewhat flustered. Could he be changing his clothes? They always played together since they were young, and they were even living in the same house. Although they weren’t true siblings, they might as well be at this point, so there was no need to feel embarrassed.

“… It’s fine now. Come in.”

While Tyril was pondering, she received permission to enter from the room’s owner, so she opened the door, revealing the as usual messy room. Well was sitting on the bed near the window with a forced smile.

His outfit was the same as during dinner: slightly worn out, gray clothes. It didn’t seem like he had changed.

“… What have you been up to?”

“Um, no, it’s nothing… Did you need something?”

“Not really. It’s just that it was getting cold, but you didn’t come to the fireplace, so I was wondering if something happened.”

“Oh, right. I, er… I had something to do.”

“And…? What were you doing?”

“No, no, it’s really no big deal. It’s just…”

Well just wasn’t making sense. There was no doubt he was hiding something with his suspicious behavior. Still, no matter how much Tyril pressed him, he probably wouldn’t confess. He could be ridiculously stubborn at times.

Why was he hiding things from her? Tyril let out a resigned sigh, a little dissatisfied with her childhood friend’s attitude. She decided to turn around and leave the room.

“Oh, I’ll come downstairs in a while, so just wait a bit…”

“It’s fine. I was just curious about what you were doing. I’m going to bed now.”

As a bit of payback to Well, she spoke with a slightly cold tone, closed the door to his room, and left as he fumbled with his words. Tyril went downstairs, feeling a slight emptiness in her chest with her final words.

She couldn’t help thinking she’d been a little mean, but if it seemed to bother Well, she would apologize later. With that, she returned to the sofa in the living room.

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Edited on October 8, 2023.

I started rereading this chapter on a whim and cringed at how awful some parts sounded, so I gave it a quick edit. Even found one sentence I somehow didn’t MTL (oops). Embarrassing for the first chapter.

As such, I’ll gradually go through the rest of the posted chapters and might do some light editing. If I do, I’ll note it at the bottom.

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For more from the author, visit:
Narou: https://mypage.syosetu.com/1258514/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/inui_takafumi

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Novelupdates: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-distant-trail-of-ciara-badvia/
Revisions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jS9QeSLaJfl6P_-Gl-zAY0dnKPep3or9fUl-HPukc9g/edit?usp=sharing